Tweeting Not Just For Twits

We said this before--those that still subscribe to stodgy marketing/communication strategies are going to be left in the dust as more proactive and prescient promoters embrace technologies that are gaining traction faster than a speeding bullet.

After canvassing a select number of top-gun execs representing a broad spectrum of businesses, from media to merchandising, to traditional manufacturing--several have acknowledged they've been slow to adapt, but are now shifting into high gear and rapidly implementing new communication strategies.

We're on board and have taken the same steps.. and testing out a media campaign to promote a creative entertainment practice, so stay tuned to hear about our own results.

In the interim: here's an excerpt from a WSJ article that profiles financial service enterprises that are beginning to "get it":



At a time when our president refuses to relinquish his BlackBerry, and CEOs twitter their companies' news, it was bound to happen: Your fund manager wants to be your Facebook friend.

Whether you "accept" or "ignore," you'd better get used to it: Fund companies, asset managers and brokerage firms are starting to embrace so-called Web 2.0 strategies -- social networking, podcasting, interactivity. California-based asset manager Pimco has a Facebook page (and 65 "fans"). Charles Schwab Corp. has developed a Web site specifically for younger investors and advertises it via Internet TV channels. Vanguard Group is podcasting, and earlier this year, Fidelity Investments revamped its Web site to highlight resources and tools more than funds and brokerage products.

After years of ignoring Generations X and Y in favor of their wealthier baby-boomer parents, firms are starting to shift some of their attention to people under 40. And it's a market that's relatively easy to reach. The cost of establishing a presence on Facebook, recording a podcast or posting an investing video on YouTube is negligible, if not completely free. But it's going to take more than a friend request to woo Gen X and Gen Y, says Anurag Heda of financial-services consulting group Kasina. As a group, younger investors prefer to cull information from different sources, rather than relying on a single expert.