Wendy McCarthy, VICE PRESIDENT
Inspiration is a funny thing. In 1949, George Orwell was inspired by Stalinist Russia. He wrote the novel “1984,” describing in haunting detail the taste of victory gin and the control of information by thought police.
In 1984, Ridley Scott was inspired by Orwell. He directed a seminal commercial for Macintosh that ran just once, during the 1984 Super Bowl, yet is ingrained in our collective psyche.
In 2007, an initially anonymous Web broadcaster was inspired by both. He created and posted this short video to YouTube. In mere hours, “Big Sister” grossed hundreds of thousands of Web impressions. This, in turn, has resulted in hundreds of millions of mainstream media impressions.
Today, I am inspired by all three. The democratization of information is upon us. The Internet has risen. We all have influence. We all have power. We all can change the course of history with the click of a mouse and the wink of a video feed.
And, yes, we all can sell a lot of product. With mainstream media losing ground, the Internet offers a wealth of opportunity to communicate directly with customers. It is easy. It is free. It is everywhere. It is equal, for everyone.
Unfortunately, this includes your competitors.
Imagine awaking tomorrow to a cyber attack. Faster than you can say “doublethink,” an anonymous posting makes it appear your product is killing small children. Or, as was the case with Big Sister, imagine a video is produced and posted by a rogue staffer who presumes to speak and act on your behalf.
Do you have a response plan? Do you have strong relationships with community, industry and other third party influencers? Do you have the right technology to move quickly? Have you been neglecting more mainstream media?
Now more than ever, complete and compelling public relations strategies are required to protect and promote your brand. Your messaging must be powerful and clear. Your reputation must be established and communicated through multiple channels.
Big Brother and Big Sister should inspire all of us as we look toward our collective future and the future of our industry. As Orwell wrote, "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." Today, just as in Orwell’s dystopia, the masses are both controlled by and in control of information. Democratization of information does not preclude totalitarianism. Democratization breeds totalitarianism every time we make perception a reality or authorize censorship.
Tomorrow, I predict our children and their children will study Big Sister in classrooms just as today they study the impact of television with the Kennedy-Nixon debate. The 2008 election will be unlike any we have seen before. It will change the way we all think about the Internet, our “friendfoe” in the language of “newspeak.” The impact will be felt far beyond political battle lines. It will penetrate board room and chat room, alike.
I hope this posting will inspire you dust off that old, tattered copy of “1984,” or at least download it onto your iMac. Orwell’s lessons are more important today, than ever before.
LINKS to use:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phil-de-vellis-aka-parkridge/i-made-the-vote-differen_b_43989.html