I'm sure many of you have already heard that through a special section of his site, Sen. Barack Obama will announce his VP candidate through TXT message directly sent - not to the traditional media covering the campaign - but to his supporters. Mobile micro-blog sites like Twitter will also allow people to distribute the news to followers instantly and personally.
Some traditional media, including the LA Times call it "high tech gimmick" and others criticize the Senator for "treating the office like American Idol."
But, the fact is Obama's campaign knows its bread and butter is the young vote and that demographic lives through their mobile devices, blogs and vlogs and tweets. And, the Senator has certainly shown himself to be proficient with these communication tools throughout his campaign. As you may recall, this is not the first time he gave a big scoop to the general public; he announced his plans to run via a video on his site, which bypassed the usual traditional media channels to deliver the message directly to his target audience.
Politics aside, this marks a significant moment in the transition from traditional to new media and it perfectly embodies my philosophy. By "speaking media" fluently to your audience; talking to them the way you would a reporter; giving them scoops and leads and stories to share, you ensure they will share it. And, as we've seen time and again, traditional media will too.
In many ways, social media has become stronger, louder and faster than traditional channels. And, whether you're a political candidate, a consumer product, a pharmaceutical or airline, if you truly embrace this and give your own brand fans that "exclusive" you will see great rewards.
Jennifer A. Jones
<reprinted from SpeakMediaBlog>