Marketing 2.0

GM's Virtual Design Studio

Despite its lack of success in the marketplace, GM has been pretty innovative when it comes to using social media. Several years ago, they initiated the FastLane blog. This allowed their senior managers to connect directly with consumers and is one of the most successful corporate blogs in my opinion. The postings are honest and the number of comments they garner is impressive.

CNET is now reporting on GM's new program, creating a virtual design studio online. The idea here is to post future vehicle design concepts and get customer feedback. It's a combination research project and social-networking site. The CNET story also includes the introductory video that GM produced and posted where else but on YouTube.

I don't know if GM will survive in the long run but I admire their innovative use of social media to connect with consumers.

GM floats auto concepts on virtual design studio | Green Tech - CNET News.

The Twitter (and social media) Revolution

This week marked an inflection point for social media. The uprising in Iran over their recent election was organized and communicated primarily through Twitter. While the government was able to control and censor traditional media such as television and radio, they were unable to stop the Iranian people from Twittering their protests across the globe.

It was an extraordinary media shift to watch journalists on television reporting events and information they could only access through Twitter. While the journalists in the country were isolated in their hotel rooms, their counterparts in the newsroom were glued to their computer screens getting all of the information for their reporting through social media.

This does not mean that television is dead or that print is obsolete, but it does mean that social media has grown from its roots as a networking tool for teenagers to a mainstream medium.

How fitting that a revolt in a traditional Islamic country becomes a metaphor for a changing of the guard in the world of media.