Social Cache.
A Nemo blog. Dealing with uncommon cents.

At Nemo we have recently been spending much of our time in “thought leader” mode, to coin a phrase. Like any modern integrated marketing and branding company we are charged with advising our clients on how to approach the convoluted and ever-shifting world of social networks and social media advertising.

On this blog I have outlined many thoughts about why companies shouldn’t necessarily dive headfirst into the world of blogs and social media – here’s a post that includes a useful ‘how-to top ten’ list.’ It’s entitled “Why Does Corporate Social Networking Fail? It’s not cynical, and hopefully it’s useful to anyone pondering the issues of how their company should be represented online.

If we look at social networking before the advent of the internet, pre-Facebook etc, it literally meant that we gathered in tribes; ‘birds of a feather flock together’ goes the old saying. It’s as true today as the day the phrase was coined. Many people who have like-minded pursuits happily gather socially at predetermined venues or destinations to share their love of something. During my different life-stages in England growing up, that meant for me – soccer, pubs, punk rock.

Today we see the ability to share common interests multiplied as never before and of course I do mean “see” it; it’s called the Web and it lives up to its name.

At Nemo we don’t pretend to have the answers. We are still asking the questions. So I decided that it might be a good idea to invite Rachel Masters, Ning Inc’s VP of Strategic Development, to talk to us about the Ning social networking platform and the tools they are providing for anyone to build a social network.

Rachel walked our audience through a few examples of companies using the Ning platform to connect with their core consumers, but none was as compelling as the Saturn Cars site. It’s a great example of a company understanding and embracing America’s love affair with the automobile. If you love your Saturn this is the go-to site. If you are a marketing executive at a company that is thinking of embracing social media then have your team take a look at Saturn’s Ning network. It might just make you look like you understand social media….

Here’s a transcript of the talk on OakHazelnut from @caseorganic who was in the audience. And here’s a video of part of Rachel’s presentation.