The biggest lesson for any marketer – or any leader, for that matter – is that we no longer have control. We demonstrated this in a very radical way when we launched our current brand.

The reasoning was sound: by choosing a catchy, short phrase and putting a # in front of it, we instantly turned it into a search term in Twitter that others could tap into.

Our research was pretty easy: see what was already happening on the #sy hashtag. Not much, as it turned out – and we were monitoring it for about a month. The only common thread was references to Sonic Youth … not a bad brand association.

Then, about two days before launch, we started getting the weather report from Damascus. Why? Damascus is the capital of Syria … or for short, #SY.

That’s okay. We can share the weather. We even tried to make conversation, but the weather forecaster wasn’t interested.

But as time has gone on, we have met some of the stupidest people I have ever come across. People who tweet foul jokes about sex, but can’t bring themselves to spell the word “pussy”. Instead … you guessed it, p##sy.

If you know me, you know I’m pretty easy going and will roll with the punches. But as the launch faded and we weren’t using the hashtag, and others were (to misspell “pussy”!) it was less and less a reflection of our brand, and more an embarrassment.

So without any fanfare, we’ve quietly dropped the # from sy. There are lessons for every brand here, we just made them very tangible. Here are some of those lessons:

• Possession really is nine tenths of the law. Perhaps even 9.5. Trademarks and patents are okay, but unless you’re actively using “your” IP, it’s up for grabs in the public perception.
• Your brand is what others say it is (especially online). Even if they’re not referring to you! Google (and Twitter search) doesn’t yet know the difference between a social media consultancy and a middle eastern country.
• Your brand is in many places. We’re still finding the # in places we didn’t expect. There are so many places to be listed, which is great for search engine optimisation, but no fun when you have to update everything.
• Facebook doesn’t let you change your company name on your Facebook page. Which is really ridiculous.

Auckland Theatre Company‘s Anna Connell takes us behind the curtain of social media marketing for an arts organisation. A must for every service business, because we’re all in the entertainment industry now.

We’ve covered a very similar subject before with Josie Campbell from The Edge. Josie’s done some pretty awesome things recently using social media.

On a more sombre note, this episode is dedicated to one of New Zealand’s great advocates for social media in the arts and culture sector, Paul Reynolds, who we lost tragically over the weekend. Read one of the many online tributes to Paul.

Work needs more play – and not just because it makes people feel good. Play can make a person – and a company – more resilient, more creative and more innovative.

The Red Rubber Ball at Work does a great job of saying why play is important – from the points of view of many different people in business, from product designers to salespeople to Seth Godin.

For more information on play and its role in the growth cycle (from chaos to competence), see chapter one of the Jolt Challenge, an excellent book I’ve just finished. A review is coming your way soon!

Meantime, enjoy this review and I’d love to hear what you think!

Before, long, we could hear and see the team.

…and once all that drama was over, it was time to unveil what #sy is all about:

Carista’s story has just begun. Stay tuned.

There are three parts to this story.

1. #sy is the social media consultancy formerly known as iJump! You can find the #sy website here. Meanwhile, the iJump blog and iJumpTV  will remain as a not-for-profit, community resource to grow collective wisdom about the future of business.

2. Our launch party is tonight, November 20th, and we’re going to help our guests – many of whom are absolute beginners at social media – experience, rather than just hear about, social media engagement. That means connecting them with you – the people who read this blog, who tweet, who Facebook regularly. It’s about building connections and creating mutual understanding. And it really excites me!

3. We’re also launching an ambitious plan… but perhaps I’m speaking too soon. I’ll keep tight-lipped on that one for now.

Meanwhile, stay tuned to the #sy hashtag. Our media team James, Courtney and Lewis have some great adventures planned on the way to the venue.

We look forward to learning with you. What’s been your impressions of #sy so far?