I would have to agree with the notion that advertisers are still struggling with video and social networking. User generated content is creating a highly volatile environment for brands to play in.

They're starting to realize that this is a bigger project than a marketing director can handle on his/her own and that they need to re-evaluate internal structures to deal with their communication strategies.

Just when advertisers started to fall in love with he simplicity of speaking through the online channel and understanding the quantifiable impact, the game changed and now they need to grapple with not only the concept of two-way communication but the stream of "qualifiable" data that is now becoming available – not an easy task.

I believe that technology will make the transition to conversational (social) online media easier than the general online adoption was in the mid nineties.

Thanks again for the thought provoking read.

…"if the consumer wants to watch videos of people getting drunk and taking their clothes off, that might be where your brand should be."

Clearly there are many marketers of that mindset or we wouldn't be seeing as many world class brands next to profiles of drunk and naked people.

However, in some areas, I'm starting to hear a lot of backlash brewing from companies that are trying to use social networks for recruiting young people. I was just speaking to a group of HR execs from over 70 major companies and someone asked the group how many had used the top two social networks to recruit, and about 50% raised their hands. Then they asked how many had ever had a successful recruit from one of them….and not a single hand was raised! One person, in fact, said they'd had "a fire" from one, but never a hire.

I completely agree with the niche approach. Go where people WANT to know more about your company (and in this case, your opportunities). We just launched the first global human capital marketplace aimed at helping young people from around the world connect with opportunities from companies and organizations to get experience and start building their professional careers, and maintaining the integrity of brands has always been a major focus for us, second of course, only to the success of the young people that we built our company to serve in the first place. The site is YSN.com – Your Success Network, if anyone is interested.

Maybe I'm old fashioned (albeit in my 30s), but I expect that young people should take more pride in their online identities, and similarly, that companies and organizations should take as much pride in extending their brands into the online space, not to mention putting themselves out there in environments that celebrate their involvement, not cringe from it. Yes, some branding in social networks is definitely considered an intrusion. And putting your brand next to naked and drunk people may be good if you're selling late night munchies, music, or dating services, but for the rest of the world, I think the better advice is to be a bit more strategic.

-Jennifer Kushell
President & Co-founder of YSN.com and co-author of the New York Times Bestseller, Secrets of the Young & Successful: How to Get Everything You Want Without Waiting a Lifetime