Pondering the Death of George Michael

When I awoke this morning, the last news I expected to hear on the radio was that My Boy George was dead - at the young age of 53! I think that was the shock, that he's a few years older than I am. It's scary when people are dying from your age group. 

When you're young, you think only old people die - people in their 50s, 60s, 70s. Then you reach that age and you think 40 is too young to die; 50 is too young to die. Yet these mega-stars died young. Michael (Jackson) was 50.

 Whitney Houston (seen here with Jordin Sparks from "Sparkle") was 48. 

Prince was 57. 

Now My Boy George - age 53? I loved their music. All of them. I have no Michael Jackson or Prince CDs. I have a few Whitney CDs and I made sure a George Michael compilation was among my first CD purchases. 

I know they all had controversies in their lives - issues with drugs, alcohol, lifestyle choices. Just the rigours of the touring scene must've been tough on their bodies - but My Boy George looked clean enough and healthy enough. Michael Jackson had image issues over the last decade and half of his life - only to be vindicated in death. Prince, well, he was always a character so anything was possible with him - and Whitney, her battles with drug addiction also became public, yet when she died it was unbelievable, after looking so magnificent in "Sparkle". 

So all I could do is offer up a mighty prayer for divine protection for our Bajan-born pop icon, Rihanna, and another of my fave artistes, Mariah Carey and her two children.

But for now, I'm remembering my fave George Michael songs, beginning with "Careless whisper":




And "One More Try":

Then there are the duets: "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with the inimitable Sir Elton John.

"I Knew You Were Waiting" with the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin:

And "If I Told You That" with The Voice, Whitney Houston:

Even when not singing in English, he's great with Astrud Gilberto on "Desafinado":

Then to the solos, the ever-popular "Faith":

And from his days with Wham, one of my Christmas faves: 

Well, My Boy George, it was sad news. I guess it really has been a surreal year. Donald Trump is actually president elect of the United States and now George Michael is gone, at age 53. Rest in peace my poster boy. 

Musically Celebrating Barbados' 50th Anniversary of Independence

Today is the 50th Anniversary of Independence for #Barbados. An island that's all of 166 sq. miles in the Atlantic ocean - the most easterly island of those in the Caribbean.

I'll pay tribute in song with a few of my fave nationalistic songs:

The Merrymen in their heyday of the 1970s were great musical ambassadors for Barbados.

Here's another of their classics: Beautiful Barbados

And then we have another oldie but goodie in a spouge rhythm (would love to hear Rihanna render something in spouge), that gets me singing at the top of my voice and dancing every time:

This one is my fave nationalistic kaiso: I'm A Bajan

And this is the "bashment" version that the youngsters like:

FYI bashment rhythm is a beat that exceeds 100 beats per minute - enough to put out the back of an old girl like moi!

Then this one pays tribute to our local artistes - more my stylie:

On that note, let's BIG UP BIM (Barbados - sometimes pronounced Buhbayduss in Bajan dialect) for our Golden Jubilee of Independence. Happy Indendence #Barbados.

Peace.

Daddy's Trump Card

Well, the citizens of the United States recently voted for a president and when the electoral college votes were counted - The Donald emerged victorious. All hail the next President of the United States!

Of course, I expected the social unrest and demonstrations to erupt 6 months into his term and after the introduction of some of those policies he espoused so vociferously. However, the masses are speaking...and it's not in his favour.

Given the prior predictions, Ivanka Trump's advertisement endorsing her dearest Dad for president was perfectly timed. After all, who in this image-obssessed America could resist a beautiful, engaging, charming and articulate young woman speaking so positively of the Dad she knows and loves. That advertisement I felt was really the Trump card of The Donald's campaign. 

Of course, I subsequently heard an interview with conservative talk show host, Mark Cox, declaring that the conservatives wanted to make their voice heard and they expect Trump to deliver on his promises - secure borders and select conservative judges for the Supreme Court for example. The conservatives can wish for the USA to isolate itself all they want.  The rest of the world actually has options these days. 

Anyway, what makes Cox  think The Donald, with his lack of political experience, will dance to the conservatives tune?  Nothing in his campaign suggests he'll allow others to control him. Odds are Hilary would've been easier to negotiate with. The main political influence on him may very well be from Putin.

The thought of USA and Russia in each other's bosom strikes me as a rather unholy alliance.

So the American people will have to take what they get over the next 4 years.

I know I'm NOT applying for a US visa during Trump's administration, so I better not have to go there for any reason as I'll have to respectfully decline.

All I can hope for is that our political directorate over the next 4 years have the testicular fortitude to assert what our first Prime Minister declared to the UN decades ago that we'll be friends of all and satellites of none, that we won't give in to specialist agendas for the proverbial bowl of Jacob's stew.   

In the meantime, we'd better: 

Emancipate Yourself From Mental Slavery

I've not been back to this blog for a long time.

It's not that I haven't had anything to say, it's just that I've not had the time to reflect on much.

Now however, I'm rejoicing.

I can exhale.

I completed and passed my dissertation for the Durham MBA.

That was my most interesting academic study to date. I loved the topic. I'm fascinated by leadership behaviour, which is why this Hilary Clinton/Donald Trump race is bewildering.

I do not see how everyone calls HC a liar, yet DT says on camera (albeit more than 10 years ago) that he gropes women because they let him since he's a "celebrity", then when asked about those comments during a Town Hall, he says it's not true after calling it "locker-room talk"???!! Either he lied then or he's lying now. Duh?? So why can the man lie and the woman be dragged through the mud for perceived "lying". I call that double standards.

I saw nothing to trust in the man during his primary campaign yet he got the party's nod because he said there'd be riots. And he is still instigating social unrest by talking about not accepting the result.

This and Br-exit tells me that insularity is not a small-island thing. It's human nature and it's alive and well in developed nations. They are no better than we "small-islanders", sorry to say. It's time we all emancipated ourselves from mental slavery as brother Bob sang and +Robyn Rihanna Fenty covered a few years ago. Sing it sista'.

A Fond Farewell

As I conclude this blog for Social Media Strategies, I reflect on the past three months and what I learned from this most enjoyable and enlightening module.

Firstly, I have a greater appreciation for social media as a business tool.  I now realize that simply having a Facebook or Twitter page that looks pretty is not enough.  It’s about interaction.  It’s about connecting to your customers 24/7.  It’s an always on communication medium, delivered at high speed.  It’s fast.  It’s about engaging in conversation.  This means asking questions, responding to queries promptly, posting images (and more images), having giveaways and promotions.  The goal is to generate interest in the business’ product/service by attracting followers to the particular social media platform.

When monitoring the Facebook page of the organisation employing me, I observed posts with images and greetings for special occasions resulted in hundreds of views and several likes.  Indeed, at the time of writing a photo was posted of some staff live in studio at a local radio station and within an hour of posting on the organisation’s timeline, there was a like.  

In contrast, postings without images generated very little interest.  In general, updates were sporadic...before taking this module.  An effort is now made to create content more frequently. The result is an increased number of weekly likes – it’s still a learning process but, personally, valuable insights have been gained to date.

Secondly, I discovered that many companies in Barbados are on the social media bandwagon, not maximising their social media presence, much like my organisation.  For instance, I briefly reviewed the social media platforms of a few regionally-based luxury jewellery stores.  Their followers were more than my organisation’s, so they have potential.

Facebook and Twitter were the most popular tools used.  None had a YouTube Channel or Instagram account – two of the more visually appealing platforms.  

Thirdly, I wanted to find a Barbadian brand skilfully using social media marketing.  This led to Billboard chart topper, Rihanna. #RiRi has perfume, socks, and MAC make-up lines and is embarking on her own make-up line with LVMH.  She has been a Nike and Cover Girl model.  Why would these global brands be interested in this Bajan belle?  They sensed star power, perhaps.  But how did she get to be a household name in music in the last decade?  She worked the social media platforms.  She (or her team) post pictures, have competitions. One day she is seen out clubbing; another day she’s side-by-side with Oscar-winner, Leonardo DiCaprio.  In another photo she’s celebrating a record-breaking moment for the most weeks at No. 1 on billboard, with Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West.  Quite an achievement!

Local businesses would do well to follow her example for building and maintaining a social media presence.

On that note, I wish a fond farewell to the SMS module as I look to the future and completing my three-year experience with Durham Business School.

So Long, Farewell...

Barbados’ Biggest Export

So, are there any Barbadian companies to master the art of working social media? But how is social media defined.  I’ve been using the term, but what is it? 

According to Barker et al. (2013) social media is a term to describe online “social networks,..blogs, wikis,...other online collaborative media”.  The more well-known social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr. 

I decided to browse for social media profiles of local entities.  The very popular Beer of Barbados (Banks Beer) has 29.6K Facebook fans and 3.5k Twitter followers. A comparison of regional luxury jewellery stores with a presence in Barbados revealed that the New York-based Diamonds International had more than 70k Facebook fans, 2.4k Twitter and almost 900 Pinterest followers respectively. In contrast, Little Switzerland had more than 41k Facebook fans and no other social media presence. Colombian Emeralds International, under the umbrella of a locally-based holding company Duty-free Caribbean had approx 7.5k Facebook fans – which is quite fledgling. These are all minnows in the current social media environment. 

The question then is: does Barbados have a major exponent of social media either as a brand or a product.  The answer is: the Barbadian born and bred, American-branded mega R&B star...Rihanna, Barbados’ biggest export to date.  

Hers is a real-life Cinderella story.  Robyn Rihanna Fenty, a pretty teenager with a flair for the dramatic, an ability to dance and sing gets a big recording break and today seven albums later, her Facebook page has 81 million fans and her Twitter followers number 575k. Unbelievable! That’s the power of her personality. Her Twitter page, for example, is updated regularly with re-tweets, original tweets about her appearances, her achievements, her nights or days out, her nominations, her new mobile app. They all reinforce her popularity. Who under the age of 21 would not want to know about Rihanna’s daily jaunts? 

Having heard, anecdotally, of her social media success over the years, it was still remarkable to read her Facebook stats in Barker et al. (2013) for 2011, when her page was the fifth most popular with 41.8 million fans. However, even then her page had the second-highest daily growth of 57.1k and highest weekly growth of 479.7k. Clearly, she was a viral sensation in an age when peer-to-peer influence via social media is greatest among millennials. Clever management of social media certainly seem a key contributor to her popularity.

REFERENCES
Barker, M., Barker, D., Borman, N. and Neher, K. (2013) Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. International Edition. Boston: South-Western Cengage Learning.

The Rules of Engagement

For the uninitiated, navigating the un-chartered waters of social media marketing can be anything but smooth sailing.  Of course, there are those who intentionally cruise into the territorial waters of others to secure a sale.

Just last year, a new LinkedIn contact did not take more than a week before inviting me to sign up for a seminar being organised by the company for which she works...like I was interested? That’s an example of a company that used my LinkedIn page as an avenue to send an unsolicited sales message. Do I hear “SPAM” anyone?

Then around mid-March, I learned of a product that I wanted to purchase but did not recognise it at any retail outlets I usually frequent.  When I sent a direct message on Facebook, a curt, vague response was given as to where I could find the product.  So, I had to let them know they could not want my business with that reply.  It so happened the person who saw the query, had created the Facebook page, but was now living overseas and could not supply the information needed – hence the original response.  However, my terse comment prompted a more congenial reply with an explanation and a contact number for my follow-up. 

Much better customer service that! Is not the purpose of social media engagement for a commercial entity, the generation of positive word-of-mouth among customers? Lest we forget, the United Breaks Guitars case study that became an instructional video (Barker et al. 2013) is an enlightening example of how easy it is to damage a company’s reputation when a post highlighting a negative reaction goes viral. In the case of Dave Carroll, within 24 hours his essentially homemade video went viral with more than 50,000 views. What was it? A song on how United Airlines damaged his guitar and never compensated him for it ).

So, from a business perspective, what is required to engage in social media marketing. 

(i) Listening to the conversations in the particular social media channel is critical. There is need to know what customers are saying about your organisation, your business sector. 
(ii) Then, to enter the conversation, recommended actions include showing appreciation for mentioning the product and inviting further contact with the entity (Barker et al. 2013).
(iii) Finally is content creation and beginning the conversation across channels where customers are found (Barker et al. 2013).

On monitoring sites in Barbados, companies seem to go straight to posting content without analysing the audience. This seems a recipe for disaster. 

To be successful with social media campaigns think PARC, which means being: 

•  P – participatory, interaction is key. Reply to questions, thank customers for posts. 
•  A – authentic by responding honestly and sincerely with a dash of personality. Humour and anecdotes can be very engaging.
• R – resourceful, which means giving advice such as how-to-videos and articles on related matters. This Barbadian-born chef, living in London, got it right in an effort to redefine Caribbean cuisine on Instagram with more than 90,000 followers and 52.4K likes and more than 10,000 comments. Quite a delicious page for fans of fine food, creatively presented.
• C – credible, as seen in terms of either knowledge or expertise, or trustworthiness of the brand (Barker et al. 2013).

Ultimately, the goal of any social media strategy is to build trust in the brand. Create interest in the brand and generate positive word-of-mouth that lead to sales or support depending on the nature of the entity engaged in social media marketing. 


REFERENCES
Barker, M., Barker, D., Borman, N. and Neher, K. (2013) Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. International Edition. Boston: South-Western Cengage Learning.