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It seems these days that relying on logic and facts to do business is not quite enough to paint a complete picture. Business persons who default to the right-brained, intuitive sensibility are becoming more prevalent, so much that products and business processes are being adapted to meet their needs. One such invention is called Prezi, the newest presentation generator created by Adam Somlai-Fischer and Peter Halacsy in 2007. This platform allows presenters to create a free-flowing, organic form of presentation that is more interactive than a typical linear slideshow. You begin with a canvas in which to write ideas, post pictures and videos, or create timelines. The play arrow allows the presenter to advance from one idea to the next by zooming in and out, sliding forward or backward, or by animating the image or words. Moreover, one can click into the canvas at any point to emphasis an image or return to an idea.
Several reviews have been written about Prezi from different standpoints, the business model standpoint being from the Harvard Business Review and the technology standpoint being from the New York Times. In addition to these, from a marketing standpoint, Prezi has significantly changed the face of typical idea-sharing. The interface allows the presenter to engage the audience with an interactive story instead of simply clicking and advancing from one thought to the next. The organic platform lends itself to being more visual in nature; therefore it has more appeal and retains attention longer. Prezi creators took into account the new creative “big picture” mindset of professionals, stating that they learn from culture first, and then react by using technology. Overall, this program is well worth the fee if any business professional wishes to set their ideas apart from the crowd in the newest, most creative way.
Imagine for a minute buying a ticket to an event that has an attendence of 50,000. While there you take a bunch of pictures, maybe you Tweet some of them, maybe you write a quick blog post from your mobile device. When you get home, you upload the pictures and write a blog post about the event and your experiences there. A little while later a lawyer sends you a letter ordering you to take down the post and pictures, maybe even telling you they own the rights to your content.
This week two very different organizations’ policies about participant depictions of their events were heavily discussed in the news: The Burning Man Festival and the SEC Conference. For different reasons (one concerned about privacy & control, the other about profit and partners like ESPN), each of these entities are essentially saying that they might actually own your recollections and stories about their events.
Many brands are beginning to wade into the social media space and are wondering how best to adopt social media and interact with consumers in a new way. I would argue that these two examples illustrate the worst in social media policy. The key is to allow consumers, participants, people to have the conversation they’re going to have anyway:
- If it’s positive for your brand or event, leverage it and try to ride the wave of good will to help promote.
- If the attention is negative, do what you can to learn from the message being spread and correct the problem. Often proactive approaches create enough goodwill to turn the PR problems around.
The great thing about social media is that more and more people are getting the chance to participate and tell their stories. From a research and branding perspective, it opens a whole new insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. Attempting to control the conversation, regardless of the motive, will only backfire.
