This is part two of our rehash of Internet Week’s The #Promise Conference!
Though we love topics with an environmentally-friendly slant, Channelise was most riveted by a more humanistic, empathic presentation by Jason Rzepka, Vice President of Public Affairs at MTV. The ambassador of teenage culture is using its influence to address very specific topics: sexting of the photographic variety and digital abuse. Stylized videos confronted us with the faces, voices, and stories of young people whose lives had been irreversibly damaged by digital media. We felt aching sorrow for the naïve victims and then dazzling hope that MTV was doing something about the problem… a very effective presentation, indeed. It ended with a soon-to-be-aired commercial of a pale, skinny teen having every digital insult he received tattooed on his body in gaping, black letters.
"Do you have digital drama?"
Adding a little celeb power of the day was Edward Norton, who spoke on behalf of Crowdrise, the social giving platform he created. The site allows fundraisers of all status to set up a page for their cause, encourage donation, and update followers on the project. This concept is catching on in a number of areas lately; read about it here, via Mashable.
We also heard from the COO of Charity: Water, Rod Arnold, who encouraged us to “give up” our birthdays in favor of asking friends and family to donate to the organization. Charity: Water claims that 100% of donations go to directly to projects that bring clean water to poverty-stricken populations. (Administrative costs come from other sponsorships.) The organization is unveiling a new media application that will let donors see exactly where each cent of their donation is spent, under the assumption that this level of transparency will encourage people to open their wallets. Now there’s a research topic!
It also brings a twist to our topic of the day. Douglas Rushkoff, author of the book Life, Inc. spoke on his philosophy, or rather, nonsupport, of corporations. Rushkoff believes that as corporations must please their stockholders, they can never work for the good of the world—no matter how many CSR programs they integrate. According to him, only private businesses can possibly create value with people.
See what we mean about PepsiCo allowing in some very opposing views? Of course, the conference sponsors was their audience, and the world at large, to consider that social and mobile media are big enough game-changers to hold corporations far more responsible, and empower consumers to demand positive environmental and social impacts. Yes, social media has changed everything. But is it enough to take on the corporation?
Tags: brand strategy, social media