“This Car is like Punk Rock!”
Check it:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/02/10/10-harsh-truths-about-corporate-websites/
…from the great folks over at Smash Magazine-a really interesting take on developing corporate websites, and the biggest mistakes we all make in working with them.
The ideas might be controversial, but they’re interesting and thought provoking, especially the authors’ take on who has business having their business engaged in social media.
For me, their POV on social media+corporate activities being often misdirected recalls the famously lampooned car commercial from 1992 or 1993, where a car manufacturer had some ”Extreme Eddy”character-in his Doc Martens & flannel- declared how the car was “just like punk rock!!!” as the corporate world/big business was rapidly trying to relate and connected with the emerging “alternative nation.”
One can certainly draw parallels between that time, and the current emergence of the “web 2.0” and the mentality that everyone “has to be” on twitter/myspace/facebook.
Even if one disagrees with the article POV, unless we are working with a lifestyle brand, asking ourselves [and the client] “what business does the company, or the content being developed, have in this space?” should probably be our starting point.
dan napoli.DP media.unplug from convention
