What is your Google age?

According to my browsing history and other habits on the internet, Google thinks I am a 25-34 year old male. Hey that works for me!  If you are a frequent Google user then you probably have a profile too.  Just click Ads Preferences to see yours. The “ads on the web” system that Google has in place is an opt-out only “service”.  And by “service” I mean invasion of privacy.  Sure I don’t mind letting the cookies hang out on my computer, it makes things I like show up faster in my searches.  Wait…or are they telling me things I like, then I like them.  Ok this is confusing.  Let me get this straight.

Google learns what you like then systematically shows you advertisements you might be interested in and makes my searching easier by telling me things I already know, or might be interested in learning depending on my profile … Do you see the problem here?  Let me put it another way.  If you were to go to a friend’s house and use his computer to “Google” something.  Did you know that you will get different results than if you used your computer?  Try it.

For the record I am a male but a touch older than 34 (although I look 29, ha ha).  The things it has listed for me are pretty close to what I search for quite often, which is a bit scary.  Just in case you are interested, check this out, Google’s Privacy Update: What You Need to Know. 

Most people think “well Google is free, they should make some money”, and you are right, kinda.  The services are free but you and I both pay with personal private information.  Google uses its knowledge of what they know about us and sells it to advertisers.  The advertisers then (through magic of course) show up in our searches and on sidebars and where ever there might be some space.  Privacy firm Reputation.com says your personal info could be worth anywhere from $50 to $5,000 per year to market researchers and advertisers.

So the next time you are looking for that awesome new fishing pole and you get an email about new trout fishing trips, or go to your favorite website and there is an advertisement for “BRAND NEW POLES UNDER $20”, remember THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE

The World Is Watching

This past weekend I had the opportunity to sit in as the “corner-man” for a local fighter and friend at a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) show in Kentucky.  The fighter DJ Toney has been training for this Spartan Fighting Championship for about a month.  Many friends and family members couldn’t attend this fight so we decided to document the weekend using Facebook.  In this picture DJ Toney is signing on the dotted line for the fight the following night:

People from all over the U.S. and one in the Philippines watched patiently as we uploaded information and pictures to the site.  Also the fight was carried live via Pay Per View on the Spartan website.  As you can read from the site, people were able to watch the fight from a different angle than just a seat in the auditorium, and if you couldn’t watch the fight live people are able to go back and watch a replay.  Here DJ  is waiting patiently for the weigh-in with his trainer M. Flowers;

Was the Superman shirt a foreshadowing of the fight to come, or would the  locally known foe ruin DJ’s undefeated record, with a pocket full of Kryptonite.

The weigh-in’s were streamed live for everyone to see.  After the weigh-in’s more and more people were texting and calling our team to  help pump up DJ for his fight only hours away.

The following day we planned for DJ and Flowers to go to an indoor shooting range to take his mind off of the night to come;

We had a great day at the shooting range, everyone had smiles from a relaxing day of tearing up some targets.  The time had finally come. The preparations begin.  DJ and Flowers are backstage at the event getting the hand-wraps ready for the gloves.

As I upload the pictures, more and more people are texting and “liking” the updates as time grows near.

Fighter after fighter are coming back-stage battered and bruised.  Rookie  fighters watch the backstage monitors with eyes wide open, taking in every move of the ones that have gone before them.

We all joke with DJ about his fighting shorts as we all know the striking of the bell, the screaming fans and the loud music are just moments away.

We wait backstage for what seemed to be an eternity.  The promoters change the fight card to put DJ and his hometown opponent closer to the main event.  The air was thick with enthusiasm as the sounds of the cheering crowd beyond the curtain blended with the pounding of gloves hitting practice pads everywhere you turned.

This was it!  The officials rush DJ, Flowers and myself to a room made of ten feet tall black curtains surrounded by Monster drink logo’s and flashing lights.  The hometown fighter had just went into the Octagon.  The lights went out and the walk-in song for DJ came on.  The look on the face of DJ was intense and focused, Flowers looked determined but also like a proud father.  Flowers had his hands on DJ’s shoulders holding him back for a few seconds as the anticipation grew.    Then like a flash, DJ was gone!  Running down the entrance way through the crowd and to the Octagon.  He was ready to fight!

I was now in “corner-man” mode, no more texting, no more up-loading, it was fight time.  My iPhone was in my pocket the entire fight, it buzzed a few times as the announcer goes through the official banter before the fight.  But then the iPhone was silent…people all around the world were watching.

Fast-forward 30 minutes later…the fight is over, we walk with DJ back to the trainers room, the opponents hometown crowd are standing, applauding, high-fiving, knuckle-bumping DJ as he walks away from the cage.  He has won some fans tonight.  But the fight didn’t go his way.

A month of hard training, a weekend of anticipation, a world watching your every move. What could have been another MMA match in “Any-State-USA”, was an example of how new media is changing the way we live, interact and entertain.

The World Is Watching.

The Immersion of Emerging Media

It was a typical day.  There I was looking out the bus window wondering what town I was in at that moment.  A look out of the bunk tells me we are almost at the gig as the drummer is warming up with his sticks rhythmically making his way down the long hall of this steel horse.  Wait! (sound of screeching record) Where am I? Who am I? Did I die and comeback as Jon Bon Jovi?  Sadly the answer is a resounding NO.  This particular weekend I was invited by a friend to go out “on the road” with an up-and-coming country music duo that is taking the U.S. by storm!

I had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall of a mobile marketing machine.  As I ride with the band, meet-and-greet, to the hotel, to the stage, to the bus, I notice something is different about what I would normally think about time on the road.  Each musician carries something with them that rarely leaves their side, a smart phone.  During a break after sound check, while eating a quick meal, each member is thumb typing or taking a quick picture to send out to a fan or a family member.  These musicians are connected to the world 24/7.

As I sat talking to the “dynamic-duo” front men, I asked them about their use of social media and what it means to them.  They both, almost on cue, say, “it is one of the most important things we do.”  They each go on to explain that Twitter and Facebook help them stay connected with their fans and help them spread the word about what is going on with the band, where they are, where they are going, what is happening in the near future and what to expect at that night’s show.

What used to be a job of 4 marketing people it is now done in real-time with a true immersion of emerging media.

This real-time conversation promotes their music and creates never-ending touch points with their fans.

(Hint; click on the links to see who the band is, Thanks LCC)