Social Media To The Rescue! Well, kind of.

I was traveling last week and picked up a Men’s Health magazine as I often do. Still don’t understand why I don’t subscribe, but that is another story. There was an article about the fattest cities in America that caught my attention. Mainly because 5 of the top 10 cities are in my home state of Texas. Am I surprised? Honestly, not really. We are one of the most pedestrian unfriendly states. With the exceptions of a few cities and towns it is difficult to get out and walk. This makes it difficult to get out, stretch the legs and get some fresh air. Plus, it is so hot in the summer that we don’t really want to go outside even if there are things to do. So, we end up sitting around eating, playing video games and watching infomercials about how to loose weigh and get a tight tummy.

All of this made me think about the industries focused around health and wellness and what a huge role marketing and social media plays. Flip channels for a few minutes and you are bound to find at least three fitness related infomercials on at any time. If you ever have one of those sleepless nights and turn on the TV in the middle of the night it will seem like there is one on every channel. My favorite right now is for the Shake Weights. Have you seen these things? Do a quick search on YouTube and you will find the commercials. Ab Cirlce, Bowflex, The Ab Rocker and the list goes on. Let’s not get into the number of diets out there.

Do they work? Do they make those extra inches melt away like they say? I find myself interested from time to time. However, more often than not I find myself asking, “Who in the hell buys this crap?” Someone does. In fact, a lot of people do. This brings me to my main point, SOCIAL MEDIA TO THE RESUCE!!! Look up any of these products and right below all the paid seach ads you will find many reviews. If a company makes a claim in their infomercial that someone feels is not accurate, the web gives them great tools to let the world know. Furthermore, there are many parodies out there based on these products. See, we laugh at these products yet we still buy them. The bottom line is that if the product works you will find many people backing the product online. If it does not work, you will find even more people bashing the product.


OK, so now there is no excuse! Because of the web and social media it is clear to the world if these products do or do not work. This brings me next point, THE BEST PRODUCT IN THE WORLD WON’T WORK IF IT IS NOT USED. Let’s remember that we are talking about a multi billion dollar industry that is based more on the failure of its consumers rather than their success. Let’s be honest, they want us to stay fat. This way we will buy the next easy to use, 5 minute a day exercise product they come up with. If these machines really worked and they were really able to help us to loose those unwanted pounds that easily, this all would have ended with Suzanne Somers and The Thigh Master. Many of these products are great, but won’t work if they are used to hang laundry on.

Go into any gym the first week in January after everyone makes their New Years Resolutions and I guarantee you that it will be packed. Go to that same gym two weeks later and it will be a totally different story. I am not throwing stones. I am guilty of this. I have had gym memberships for years that don’t get used. Look, we have been told many times that “diets” don’t work. How many times do we hear that people lost 20 pounds only to gain back 30? I am no fitness expert, but it is obvious to me that being healthy is part of a lifestyle change not a quick fix. No “only 5 minute a day exercise” or “loose 10 pound fast” diet equates to a lifestyle change. In fairness, many people buy these products as a way to kick-start a healthy lifestyle change. My argument to them would be that people have been jogging and walking for thousands of years. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money to start a healthy lifestyle change. Even in my pedestrian unfriendly, hot home state you can find things indoors to get your heart rate up. How long has the stomach crunch been around?

Let’s come full circle and get back to my original point of SOCIAL MEDIA TO THE RESUCE!!! As I mentioned earlier, I am no fitness expert. However, there are thousands online. These people and resources are there for anyone. Most of them are free. If a person is interested in exercise product, learning more about the first steps to healthy living, loosing weight or cholesterol lowering foods the web gives them a great starting point and a world wide community to learn from.

Consumer Generated Media – Another Tech Bubble

Someone recently asked me if I thought we were heading for another internet crash. At the time I said, “No.” Since then I have changes my mind. If you have not seen the Tech Bubble Video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3qPRAAnOg) you are missing a funny one. It was not the video that changes my mind, but it is entertaining none the less. What has changed my mind in part are the number of customer review focused travel sites that have popped up in the past year and a half or so.

Everyone is familiar with TripAdvisor. It has become one of my favorites. It is funny how a site like this can move from being a new blip on the radar to a mainstream site so quickly. But look for a second at how many others are out there. Similarly, CGM has moved from being a buzz word to a tool in a very short time. Amazon has done a great job with their product reviews for years. The reviews were the primary tools my wife and I used when purchasing baby products when we were expecting years back. However, for this conversation I want to keep the focus on the travel industry.

There is no doubt that travelers use these tools. I attended a session where someone from JupiterResearch spoke about the popularity of these online tools. The asked a panel, “How did you use content created by other travels while researching your most recent trip (e.g., reviews, ratings, photographs, etc. from other travelers)? 60% answered, “Verify my hotel choice pre-booking”. They also stated that 58% There are lots of numbers that I could share about how people use these site, how many people use these sites, how they are going in popularity, etc. What is astonishing to me is how many of these sites there are. I mentioned TripAdvisor earlier. There are also sites like VibeAgent, WAYN, Vertual Tourist, TravBuddy, SmallWorldReconnect, RealTravel, TravelPost, IgoUgo, Wikitravel, Kango, FlyerTalk, etc. I am sure there are more, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

If the majority of these sites ultimately fail, consolidate or are gulped up by larger companies it will obviously not be enough to create another tech bubble like we saw in the early part of the decade. But, let me remind you of some of the dramatic stories we were hearing about back then. Some companies you will recognize, others you will not. Interesting just the same.

• Boo.com – Spent $188 million in six month. Went bankrupt in May of 2000
  
• eToys.com - $80 per share in May 1999. Less than $1 in February of 2001


• Inktomi – Stock peaked at $241 in March 2000. Sold to Yahoo! for $1.63 per share in 2002


• TheLearningCompany.com – Purchased by Mattel in 1999 for $3.5 billion. Sold for nothing in 2000

The online travel market is currently oversaturated with these types of companies that offer similar features and functionality. Only time will tell if we hear similar stories about this wave of internet based companies in the travel industry. Regardless, something has got to give.