I have posted before about “speed”  and the impact it has on marketing and the CMO (here). Two recent events have highlighted, to me, “speed” and the profound impact it can have on marketing programs, business structures and our lives.

The first is the terrible tragedy in Haiti.  Yesterday the radio reported that the death toll may exceed 200,000 people, which is staggering.  The world has stepped up and money and relief is pouring in.  Most people want to give, but not everyone can host a concert or write a big check.  The concept of mobile giving, whereby a small sum ($5.00 or $10.00) is added to your phone bill, with the money sent to a charity, removes many of the barriers to giving and fits into the millennium culture.  The speed and effectivity of this method is unbelievable.  One estimate, by the Mobile Giving Foundation, is that within the first 36 hours donations had topped $7.0M!  Assuming $10.00 each, 700,000 people contributed.

Americans are generous and will go the extra step to help someone.  That 700,000 people responded within 36 hours is proof of their desire to help.  The amazing part is that there was an infrastructure in place that was able to handle and process this response, and that those responding did not have to fill out a form, mail in a check, or go to the Post Office.  They sent a message, responded to a question, and get a message back thanking them…within seconds!!  And now these 700,000 people are part of a community…and will use the same process if there is a call for help in the future.

The second event was the election of Scott Brown as the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.  Brown’s campaign went from obscurity to victory in less than 5 months.  All the political pundits are asking, “How did he do this?”  The answer lies combination of factors, not the least of which is the campaign’s use of social media.

David Meerman at the Huffington Post posted the day before the election:

Let’s look at a few numbers. As I compare the morning before election day, @MarthaCoakleyhas 3,520 Twitter followers compared to @ScottBrownMA with 10,214 followers. Coakley counts 14,487 Facebook fans to Brown’s 76,700 fans. Advantage Brown by more than three to one.

From my own personal experience, the tweet #MASen was dominated by Brown supporters.

Using social media allowed Brown to communicate his message to a broad group of followers quickly, inexpensively, continuously and effectively.  While it is not clear that if Martha Coakley had matched him tweet for tweet she would have won, it is clear that it might have been more difficult for Scott to earn his victory.

Another blogger, Ron Miller said:

While I may be personally disappointed by the outcome, a part of me is deeply impressed by the campaign and the underlying notion that if you win the battle of social media and online advertising, you have a good shot at winning the whole war. And these same lessons apply to business as much as they do for politics. Anyone who no longer believes in the power of social media, obviously does so at their own peril. Martha Coakley certainly learned that tonight in Massachusetts.

The millennium generation feels comfortable with these tools and communication vehicles. Being a digital immigrant, raising $27M in a week from a community of 2.7M people and winning a Senate seat in 5 months impresses me, and says that we, as Marketers,  have to adjust to the speed that these tools provide.

Questions:

• As CMO are you integrating “speed” into your plans and programs?
• Do you think the carriers (Verizon, ATT, etc) should set up separate business for mobile collecting and/or micro-payments?

Note:  An updated list for mobile giving for the disaster in Haiti can be found here:  http://www.mobilegiving.org/?page_id=364 The current estimate is $27M was raised within a week.  More is needed.

RHM  1/21/10