Value determined by rarity

Welcome to 2012. A year in which the confusion and uncertainty of 2011 will continue to make strategic and marketing planning difficult. And to add to your woes, here’s a thought for those who think they’ll throw a stack of money at social media advertising this year in order to ride out the turmoil:

Most commentary on social media ignores an obvious truth—that the value of things is largely determined by their rarity. The more people tweet, the less attention people will pay to any individual tweet. The more people “friend” even passing acquaintances, the less meaning such connections have. As communication grows ever easier, the important thing is detecting whispers of useful information in a howling hurricane of noise. For speakers, the new world will be expensive. Companies will have to invest in ever more channels to capture the same number of ears. For listeners, it will be baffling. Everyone will need better filters—editors, analysts, middle managers and so on—to help them extract meaning from the blizzard of buzz.

You can read The Economist article from which this was taken here.

And, to make you smile, a great idea and an excellent video. What has a pretty flight attendant, salt flats, paratroopers, sushi, and rock band, Falconer? A great piece of creative!

Mini USA asked people to enter a  contest to describe ‘the best test drive ever’. Matthew Foster of Portland won and his idea was made into this video. Enjoy!