Social Media is a broad communication tool that describes highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques that relies on social interaction.

• It uses primarily web-based technologies that turn into interactive dialogues. Off the web, social media can include various forms of social communication – that encourages or uses social interaction to communicate.
• Web 2.0 used to be the go-to term that described social media as a type of web-based application allowed the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Some businesses use the term Consumer-Generated Media.

Social Media has been classified as a “Sign of our current times” known as the “Attention Age”.

• Social Media is often thought of, as a way for people to blend technology and social interaction in order to co-create something of value.
• This value for some individuals is friendship as found on the website Facebook.
• For many working professionals the value of Social Media has come to mean work-related career opportunity and advancement as found on the website Linked In.
• Businesses all over the world are finding value added reasons to use Social Media platforms to reach out to their consumers.
• Social Media on the World Wide Web allows people to gain information, education, news, and also provides valuable research tools when needed by the means of electronic media.
• Off the internet, Social Media is a way to physically and verbally interact with others through other offline interactions such as events, conferences and educational institutions.
• Social Media has become a mainstay for many people, businesses and organizations to communicate their message because it’s an inexpensive way to publish content or connect with others. There are not any planes to catch, cabs to call or hotels to book when you can chat with an old friend on Facebook or meet a potential employer on Linked In.

Social Media Marketing is often considered the building of what’s known as “Social Authority”.

• Social Authority is when an individual, business or organization works to establish themselves as an expert in their field . By being considered an expert, that person, company or establishment is thought to have the ability to have an influence in that field of expertise.

Recent Statistics reported back in December of 2009 showed that:

• 22% of all time spent on the internet is on social networking sites.
• About 234 million people between the ages of 13 and older in the United States have used a mobile device.
• Twitter was found to have processed over one billion tweets and continues to average nearly 40 million tweets per day.
• More than 25% of the United States internet page views online took place at one of the major social networking sites.
• In Australia, it was reported that they had over 9 million social media users who spent almost 9 hours per month on their social media websites.

Social Media can include popular electronic mediums like:

• Internet forums
• Weblogs
• Social Blogs
• Microblogging
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• Pictures
• Videos
• Rating/Reviewing
• Social Bookmarking

All in all what does Social Media mean for the average person? It has come to be a true benefit for everyone worldwide. Social platforms offer everyone a voice to communicate their thoughts, link with old friends and grow as a person, professionally and personally. More and more people are turning to their social networks to learn about whatever moves them for that day, week or year.

Social Media is up to date, it’s real-time and that’s what makes it exciting. It’s as simple as someone posting a comment on their Facebook page letting their friends know their coffee shop’s pumpkin syrup just arrived for the fall season or that an old friend is dying in the hospital so others know to go for a final visit.

No matter how you look at Social Media it is a fascinating tool that we have all found valuable to our lives in one way or another. Social Media works to improve our daily existence through interactive communication. That communication can be informational or even life-saving. Enjoy your time spent being social and listen, read and see — the voices, thoughts and pictures—of the masses!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

While Oozil is busy gathering the greatest creative minds in the country, we’re taking the time today to remember one of the greatest minds –and greatest men– in our country’s history. It’s been more than four decades since Martin Luther King Jr. shared his wisdom with us, but his words are still relevant today in an America that has made huge strides, but still struggles with its identity.

His words also tell us not to give up hope, whatever our personal obstacles, and to persevere with hope, kindness and intelligence.

Martin Luther King Jr. in his own words:

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

And, the words that could almost be the Oozil motto: “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”

Thanks, Dr. King, for making the world a better place.

By Elizabeth Kelly, with generous assistance from Dr. King

As Oozil prepares to move us into the future, it’s interesting to think about the past and its relationship to advertising. As much change as we’ve experienced in the last hundred years, from technological advances to social, cultural, and political changes, some of the main components of advertising are still surprisingly the same.

Take a look through the advertisements in 19th century copies of Harper’s Weekly, and while you’ll see unfamiliar products like laundry ringers and velocipedes, you’ll find that the techniques used are similar to ones still in use today. People still buy for the same reasons that they did one hundred years ago, looking for products to enhance their lives in some way.

An 1866 ad for a family sewing machine includes a written testimonial from Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, who says that “…I can hardly see how any thing could be more complete or give better satisfaction.” The celebrity endorsement was in full swing long before radio or television.

Other ads used clever wording and verses to sell their products. Dr. Wolcott’s Pain Paint is proof that there’s always been room for unusual health cures (remember “Head-On. Apply directly to the forehead?”) Dr.Wolcott’s clever poem also alluded to current events, mentioning the impeachment of 1868.

Today, some ad campaigns even reach into the past to find their sales hook. Building a brand can be hard, but if you can associate a product with a pre-existing icon, one that has already established an image, then you’ve built a product image in an instant.

That’s what GAP did a few years ago when they used film footage of Audrey Hepburn in black capris to almost singlehandedly make the look popular with women again. Prior to that, GAP launched a successful ad campaign using actual photographs of legendary people wearing their khakis. And not just any famous names, but some of the most famous names of all time: James Dean, JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Bogart, Picasso.

The effect was more controversial when Dirt Devil chose to splice footage of Fred Astaire dancing with images of their product, making it appear that Astaire was dancing with a vacuum cleaner. While many were appalled and thought it was disrespectful of the movie icon, Dirt Devil left the commercial on for a whole year, enjoying the added attention the controversy brought.

Author Kinky Friedman says that no matter what obscure, jungle-deep, untouched-by-civilization place you travel, the people there will still recognize Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola. If that doesn’t show the impact of an icon, I don’t know what does.

While today we’re marketing iPods and phone apps and tomorrow it might be hovercrafts, the message is the same as it was when we were hawking mustache wax. If anything, it only emphasizes the importance of finding creatives who can deliver that message again and again in new and exciting ways.

And where to find them? You’re in the right place.

by Elizabeth Kelly