Great article in The New York Times on Friday – the news is that some magazines are now hosting house parties to get potential consumers engaged face-to-face. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/business/media/17adco.html?_r=1&emc=eta1). House parties - face-to-face interaction, the power of the personal, group energy. Perfect sales setting!
To state the obvious – although it may be news, it certainly isn’t new. (Tupperware and Avon stand out as pioneers in this – Avon home parties have been around for 125 years, Tupperware for 60, to name just two).
Here’s what I like about this story – this technique is not virtual, it’s not about social media; it’s about good old-fashioned social get-togethers. (Albeit, not purely social as their goal is marketing -but at least it takes the focus off social media for a moment).
This is heartening for someone who is bombarded daily with solicitations and exhortations from PR-service vendors and journalism types on social media as the new Holy Grail of communication. We in PR know nothing beats face-to-face. Even in the upheavals in the Middle East – although Facebook may have played a role in inviting people to action and reporting it to the world, it was people in the streets – the human face-to-face protest – that changed the game.
So – let’s remember to put social (and/or anti-social) media in their place. They are not taking over marketing, public relations, or journalism, and will never replace the richness of personal communication. The virtual does not trump the real.
I agree 100%. I would add that recent negative publicity about social media, stemming from recent scandals and related episodes, lead some people to disbelieve or distrust what is found there. Facebook, etc., are inadequate substitutes for face-to-face interaction.