Indeed, that is why we hired noted social media panda bear Peter Panda – who invented the phrase “social media” in 2004 — as Elasticity’s director of social media strategy and wildlife relations.

Today, we upped the ante, bringing in leading social media chicken Christopher P. “Crispy” Chicken. While it was a productive meeting, and Crispy’s credentials are immensely impressive with work examples like this, we certainly could have done without him bringing, and drinking from, the bottle of Corazon Tequila.

Must See baby!

But seriously, there was one item discussed at the meeting, held in Boston May 27-30, that was of interest. It was a University of Michigan study that shows today’s college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and ’90s. The study analyzed data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.

It wasn’t as much that a lack of empathy caught my eye — I mean, who the hell cares (get it?)? More so, it was the factors behind the apparent reduction in empathy found in the study. They included increased selfishness amongst “Generation Me,” increased exposure to violent media content which creates a numbing effect, and the use of social media tools.

“The ease of having ‘friends’ online might make people more likely to just tune out when they don’t feel like responding to others’ problems, a behavior that could carry over offline,” Science Daily quoted U-M graduate student Edward O’Brien, who along with U-M researcher Sara Konrath and undergraduate student Courtney Hsing conducted the meta-analysis, combining the results of 72 different studies of American college students conducted between 1979 and 2009.

The study found college students today are less likely to agree with statements such as, “I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective,” and, “I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me.”

“College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait,” Konrath also told Science Daily.

So with the study in mind, I considered some typical social media usage trends — and not just college students but the broader spectrum of upright mammals.

Assuming that conversation as a medium creates a more likely platform for empathetic reaction, increased use of social media tools has unquestionably led to less conversation. And many of us tend to now use tools like instant message instead of face-to-face discussion, email rather than call, 140 characters on Twitter — all the while, our communication styles go from long-form to shorter and shorter.

Maybe you buy it, maybe you don’t. Maybe you aren’t empathizing with my point and don’t care (there I go again). But if you’re an active social media user, it should at least should give use pause the next time someone calls your cell phone and you consider forgoing picking it up in favor of sending a response via text.

Oh, the hell with it. I don’t really care.

Click here to test your level of empathy and compare how you scored to the average empathy level of college students.

Some are impressive, some amuse, and others touch us in unique ways.

Such was the case when we received an e-mail from Anthony Majewski, an apparent die-hard Green Bay Packers fan who will soon graduate from Florida State University in the great city of Tallahasee. Not only did Anthony, a Mustached American, send us his resume with a very nice e-mail, but he also included some pictures to demonstrate his Photoshop “skilz” as he put it.

With his permission, here’s what Anthony had to say:

Hello, my name is Anthony Majewski, a 23 year old on the verge of graduating from Florida State University with a Political Science major and a History minor. I’ve been following GoElastic for roughly a year now after stumbling across the American Mustache Institute and Dr. Aaron Perlut. Prior to my Political Science concentration I was a marketing major, but after hating finance, accounting, and economics I decided it was best to find something that suited me better.

I’m very experienced in social networking, the internet, gaming, sports, movies; basically everything you’d expect from my generation, but on steroids (not literally). I consider myself a great people person, have experience in public speaking, and I’m quite mustached. Your company seems like an outstanding place to work, in a great city, with great people, and I think I could be a great asset.

I really feel that this I should make an effort to get my resume to you in an effort to open up my employment opportunities with my graduation closely approaching. I’m open to anything as far as an internship and paying my way for an interview, I have never really found something career wise that seemed exciting to me until I read up on GoElastic.

That’s what is important, finding something you can wake up and enjoy doing, while doing it well.

Indeed, Anthony, it is. Thank you so much, and it should go without saying that you had me at hello……and mustache.

Carry on.

My wife and I have had the good fortune of moving around quite a bit during our 17-year relationship. I say good fortune because it’s enabled me to meet a lot of wonderful people, experience different cultures, eat different food, drink many local beers, and poop in public restrooms of varying cleanliness.

Much of our time has been spent along the U.S. Gulf Coast. We lived in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast from 1995-99, and in St. Petersburg, Fla., from 2002-05. And while living there, we lounged on beaches from St. Pete to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in Ala.; visited the famed FloraBama bar on the beachfront border of Fla. and Ala.; I played in basketball tournaments in Birmingham; went to barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi; and fished off Destin, Fla.

Indeed, while I now live in the absolute center of the country, some 12 hours from the closest beach, the Gulf Coast is very much a part of who I’ve become, and who I will always be.

That’s why I find it so frustrating to see day-after-day media coverage of oil spewing into the ocean that I have so enjoyed and connected with during these past 17 years. And while I am not a sentimental mammal — and often rather callus — the current state of my Gulf Coast just breaks my heart.

When the explosion and subsequent oil leak first occurred, I immediately understood the magnitude, even if the flow of oil had been stemmed that day or week. But I don’t think that most people living away from the Gulf Coast can truly comprehend the damage that continues to be done. We’ve heard estimates that oil will continue to spew into the Gulf until at least September. Thousands upon thousands of gallons daily for five months killing wildlife, ruining marine habitat, destroying tourism, wrecking property values, and crippling the fishing industry for decades to come.

A friend from my New Orleans days — we’ll call him Fletch F. Fletch — told me, “for us down here who lived through Katrina there is the same slowly building anxiety over this that is beginning to permeate our daily lives.  It may sound silly but it really is becoming a challenge to stay focused on our jobs and our futures when we know the New Orleans / Gulf Coast area will likely never be the same again.  It is much the same upset stomach we all had in late 2005 when faced with the dilemma of moving back to a questionable New Orleans or relocating to more secure areas.  The magnitude of this, in the end, will be far more devastating than Katrina.  Katrina was a broken arm and leg.  The spill is a cancer death sentence.”

I think what bothers me so much is that it appears little is being done, Kevin Costner “Waterworld” remake be damned. It’s like a shaving cut that won’t stop bleeding. The oil just keeps on flowing into some of the most beautiful waters I’ve ever seen.

I’d like to blame someone. It’s easiest to point a finger at BP, of course. But I’m not certain what that would get me. We hear varying sides of the story from environmentalists, BP, Gary Coleman’s widow, and local, state and federal government officials — and we must assume the truth lies somewhere in between what they are all saying.

All I know is that I’m frustrated, and I’d like someone to act, so that before I die in 40 or 50 years, I can go back to my Gulf and see it as it remains in my memories.

Carry on.

And as the news release dies, our friend Jason Kintzler and his PitchEngine have made a nice play to assume the mantle in the space by providing a platform for the social media release — a more effective means of communicating messages that reaches a broader audience.

Here is a video we worked on with PitchEngine, produced and directed by our own Kenneth Bartholomew Pituitary Hieronymus VII, to bid a fond farewell to the traditional news release.

“In year one we laid the foundation, and thus far year two has seen much of that groundwork come to fruition,” said Dan Callahan, managing partner of Elasticity. “I haven’t showered much and Aaron’s been drinking a lot, but that doesn’t really differentiate the last quarter.”

A-B Inbev’s Bud Light hired Elasticity to provide strategic counsel and insight into the brand’s performance in social media and search marketing as well as to benchmark against other CPG brands performance in the space. And Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has engaged Elasticity to develop and execute digital strategies, public relations and social media programs related to the online gaming and entertainment portal’s hotly anticipated new launches, including Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures and DC Universe Online.

“Elasticity brings a refreshing approach, and in our industry, we need to think creatively,” Scott Gulbransen, the somewhat oddly misshapen Sr. Director of Global P.R. & Corporate Communications for SOE, said while eating a four-day-old egg salad sandwich. “Their team has the right approach: mix high-level business strategy with engaging tactics that move the needle for your business. We’re working with them because we have the confidence they’re going to help us do just that.”

A-B InBev’s Shock Top brand brought on Elasticity to develop a new creative marketing, public relations and social media strategy for a calendar year 2011 roll-out as well.

“We thought Elasticity’s ‘Triangulation’ model of targeting social media, blogs and traditional media would be a good fit for our efforts to develop a creative strategy for Shock Top for 2011,” said Nate Scudieri, the craft beer portfolio brand manager for Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob Brewing Company.

Additionally, Elasticity will be putting together strategies in hopes of helping the nation’s largest provider of cable television services, Comcast Communications, with its use of social media and digital marketing programs to better educate and engage audiences with their new products and technology; Toro has hired the agency to help develop a social media framework for the company; and  Travel Leaders, formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel, will also work with Elasticity to create integrated online and offline interactive experiences in major metropolitan areas.

The most controversial of Elasticity’s new clients may be the United Karate Kid Haircut Association (UKKHA), which is working with Elasticity to develop a world domination play, to research the complete works of Pat Morita, and to push for sanctions against Libya and other rogue nations for disallowing the viewing of 1994’s highly under-appreciated “The Next Karate Kid” starring Hilary Swank.

“The UKKHA’s a slippery slope,” said a reticent Brian Cross, managing partner. “World domination is one thing, and we’ve negotiated various treaties with Libya. But Hilary Swank’s performance in the fourth Karate Kid left something to be desired.”

Founded January 1, 2009, and based in the home of the world’s largest mustache – St. Louis and its Gateway Arch – Elasticity provides communications strategies and digital word of mouth programs that straddle the realms of new and traditional media, often using humor-based themes, working with companies that include Charter Communications, Monsanto, Capital One, Stifel Nicolaus, and the American Mustache Institute.

Hence, I’m always amazed and exasperated with the immense amount of spam — and not the delicious kind — that people leave in comments. Or at least they try to.

You see, as junk e-mail filters have gotten more effective, spammers have taken to spreading their drivel throughout various blogs by first trying to deposit innocuous and somewhat friendly comments after posts. Then, after the writer approves the post, the spammer returns and leaves more targeted spam, attempting to drive readers to other online portals. It’s annoying more than anything else.

So since we generally don’t let it get on the site, I thought I’d list out some of my favorite spam posts I’ve gotten in recent months, including misspellings and all the trappings. Enjoy.

• Hi,this is really a beautiful jeans,I like the classic pants.
• Definitely trust what you stated. Your explanation was certainly the easiest to understand. I explain to you, I usually get irked when folks discuss problems that they plainly have no idea about. You managed to hit the nail at the head and explained out everything without complication. Maybe, people normally takes an indication. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks.
• Ooohh, thankyou very much,I must comment that your site is fantastic!
• Are you joking? I’m not certain I can go along with what you have said. But I will definitely be back to find out more soon.
• I could not have used better words . This is a area that is that matters to me and I thought you covered it perfectly. I only just started keeping a blog as well but I’m not especially accomplished at it yet. Would love to read more of your blog and I’ll unquestionably return another time!
• I found this post while surfing the net lyric updates. Thanks for sharing I’ll be back regularly.
• Hi, at the moment I am searching with my iphone four new design ideas and so I have found your blog. Your design is really simple but also compare it to your posts. I think I would use it for my first draft. Thank you for this idea!
• We were performing a search on this subject, and by chance stumbled on your website. I am impressed by your blog. I will invest some time looking around, and will certainly be bookmarking this place. You’ve got a good way with words, and you also chose a excellent design to accompany the site. Keep up the good work as you have made me into a regular reader.
• We were performing a search on this subject, and by chance stumbled on your website. I am impressed by your blog. I will invest some time looking around, and will certainly be bookmarking this place. You’ve got a good way with words, and you also chose a excellent design to accompany the site. Keep up the good work as you have made me into a regular reader.
• Hello,I find that your website is very educational and helpful and we were curious if there is a possibility of obtaining More web content like this on your weblog. If you willing to support us out, we can be willing to compensate you… Best wishes, Alfredia Cawthorne
• Excelent blog, I just came across it and I am already a fan. I just dropped 30 pounds in 30 days, and I want to share my weight loss success with as many people as possible. If I can lose weight then any one can. Whatever you do, never give up and you WILL reach all your weight loss ambitions!

We hope you’ve been enjoying our series on hiring an agency partner, social media and everything that could be categorized as rich and compelling stuff.  The questions for this three part Q&A with Brian Cross, Dan Callahan and Aaron Perlut came from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts posts on hiring an agency and social media experience.

I bribed the final partner in the Elasticity Triumvirate with 10 pounds of bacon in order to go last in the series.  Being a man of great humility and a baconologist, he acquiesced.  Hold onto your bathrobes, an interview on Friday is never predictable.

How much of a campaign budget should go to digital?

Aaron Perlut, Chief Nuclear Mustache Grooming Specialist: Much of it depends on the specific target audience and their consumption of media.  A campaign for the Metamucil brand might be heavy on traditional media.  A campaign on Hispanic men might be purely mobile.  A campaign for 22-year-old women might target more social channels.  But there always needs to be balance between the varying mediums and the message must be consistent.

Has any of your digital work been leveraged for use in any medium such as print or broadcast?

Aaron: Yes. Generally when we develop a program, we build the creative backdrop first. Then we take that creative backdrop and lay out the channels, as well as the applications in those channels, for that creative approach. People’s attention spans are limited so we need to surround them with the same messages in multiple channels.

What is your philosophy on matching the appropriate technology to a campaign idea?

Aaron: Clearly you cannot create cookie cutter campaigns. They must be specific to the target demographic and the media consumption habits they demonstrate.

What has been your biggest viral marketing success story?

Aaron: Herpes……Oh, you said viRAL and not viRUS.  (Author note:  Yes, he really did say that.  It’s ok, he’s a creative genius.) Let me see here. The American Mustache Institute would have to be the one, especially when we used it as a medium for Quicken Online in 2009.

Who will create content? Can you share some samples of content creativity you have shown in the past?

Aaron:  My favorite one is an idea that got left on the cutting room floor. A pool manufacturer wanted to reach end-consumers, as opposed to pool and home builders, as a down economy meant fewer new pools and more upgrades. So we developed a “Pity the Pool” campaign around Mr. T who would show up in people’s back yards and verbally dress homeowners down for not having up-to-date pools.

Will you be able to transcend the messages on social media to connect to my brand?

Aaron: I am transcending to you now. Buy my product.

Fin.

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>

Recently, I published a few questions from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts and responses from Brian Cross, managing partner of Elasticity.

Furious about my obvious disregard for their mustached excellence, the other partners demanded equal time on the blog which they produce.  Of course, I could not refuse.  I tracked down the most elusive of our partners who has never met an email thread-of-nonsense to which he did not unsubscribe.

So begins Part Deux of the series:

If you found yourself having to unilaterally make a decision on behalf of your client, would you execute work that builds the brand or makes the sale?

Dan Callahan, Director of Robot Strategies:  You can do both but, in this economic environment, I think you have to go for the sale with an eye toward using sales to build brand.  So much of social media seems to be aimlessly promoting brands that consumers, I think, are growing weary of a promotion without strategy.  Facebook, clearly, has become a ghetto of promotions gone wrong.   I believe consumers are looking for value and an efficient sales channel is one of the means to prove the value of the brand.

How have you spread awareness organically via social channels (or otherwise) as opposed to any paid media initiatives and how has that saved money for your clients?

Dan: We do this every day through all the social channels, creating communities for our clients who are willing to talk to customers directly and honestly. It’s turning into a new form of advertising that is more about information than hyperbole.

What’s your best example of integrating online and offline marketing?

Dan: My favorite was the digital treasure hunt we ran during the All-Star Game last summer. It combined both elements in as visual a means as possible – the contestants were literally running around downtown St. Louis looking for the tickets and answering questions at locations around the area.

Do you think small project teams have the ability to produce large scale digital assignments and if so how?

Dan: There are tools available to any agency that have pretty much erased the advantage larger organization have had. Beyond that, smaller organizations are proving to be more agile and less invested in traditional ideas. The key is the capabilities the company’s assets have and the projects they have worked on. The future is going to be written by those who learn from the past, not live in it.  (Author note:  Dan is a writer, don’t mess with him or you may end up in his book… about the future… which Elasticity is currently writing… because we’re elastic.  Sometimes I just can’t stop.)

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>

You have undoubtedly read the collection of blog posts and articles about choosing an agency.  For at least two years, posts from We Are Social and Digital Marketer to Unique Frequency and PR101 have outlined suggestions on how to cull the best from the herd.

In his post of the top 15 companies that “focus on social media” Jason Keath writes “Since almost every company would almost be it’s (SIC) own category, I am avoiding the categories for now.”  I don’t blame him.

In a marketing genre where the rules are being written (and broken) on a daily basis, it is no surprise that discerning an agency’s capabilities in the space is tricky.

Nevertheless, Social Media is the Shiny-Shiny.  It’s Hot and sometimes it’s a Hot Mess.  You need it, you know it, and you need help with it.

Don’t let fear or intimidation lead you to the wrong partnership.  There are some qualities to look for in an agency and secrecy and bravado are not among them.

Also, this just in:  Smoke and mirrors are out.

Since I’m really just here to raise the good-look factor and, of course, represent my gender, I posed a few of the questions from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts to one of Elasticity’s managing partners:

How do you handle specialty work like mobile, social, eCRM, media, viral, digital OOH and other emerging channels?

Brian Cross, Director of Rocket Science: We are a specialty shop, so we fit some of these ‘specialty’ categories (hint: they won’t be specialty in the near future).  But to the core of what they are getting at – I believe that you should do what you do best and let the other experts do the rest.  A “Jack of all trades” doesn’t cut it anymore.  At Omnicom, I built the group by outsourcing the work we didn’t hold to our core.  We grew 10x in 2 years that way.  Look at digital shops that do their own CMS systems.  How do they expect to keep up with the open source community, or companies that specialize in CMS systems for their core?  And then wordpress comes along and wipes them all out.  Without a doubt, best-of-breed partnerships.

but that leads to another question (Author note: Brian is really smart and he likes to talk) which is “how do you handle best-of-breed partnerships?”  multi-agency collaboration and hand offs are difficult.  There is a special skill in that that comes with experience and building teams that know how to work together.  Throwing companies together to have a great partnership logo slide ain’t going to cut it.  Nor does a multi-office approach at the bigger agencies.  Too often, those city-specific PandL’s compete and even flying under the same banner doesn’t mean they can handle your work or that it will go as smoothly as promised at the new biz pitch.

Is there a particular design aesthetic your agency is known for and if not what is your approach to translating brands in the digital space?

Brian: Being a designer at heart, I’d like to say that we stand for a strong aesthetic, but the reality is that we are all about highlighting the personalities of our clients.  So our aesthetic is actually subdued with pops of creative color and personality.  That personality represents our clients.  So how do we translate a brand in the digital space?  Very easy.  We find out what the brand is about, who the people are.  We deconstruct the corporate speak.  The approved messaging that corp comm and the marketing science boys came up with.  We tear it all apart—disassemble the robot.  Then we reconstruct a human.  A personality.  A voice.  The cool thing is that the tools to express that voice are already there.  Digital media in the social sphere is made to amplify your voice.  Our voice just happens to carry further when it is more human.  Can I go back and describe our aesthetic as “human?”

How many of your online promotions have hit the million-person participation mark?

Brian: This is a crazy question.  I see the logic in that they are looking for successes, but shear numbers don’t always equate to success.  This shows a lack of understanding of the space.  Sure, if you want to define “participation” I can make an argument that we’ve done more than I can count on my fingers.  In things ranging from mustaches to TV content, to rental cars, and financial recruitment.  But were they successful in terms of the business goals?  Some were, some weren’t.  I think we’ve had more success reaching 5,000 influencers that participate heavily and recruit thousands more to our cause.  It’s the new math.  You no longer reach out to 1,000,000 in hopes of influencing 500.  You reach 500 and start to build advocates that can touch and reach 1,000,000.

How will you measure ROI? With what tools? What targets will you set and how will we benchmark these targets?

Brian: This is specific to each client.  But you need to define the “R” in ROI.  What are you trying to achieve?  If it’s a reputation management project, we may be monitoring online sentiment.  If it’s a search project, it may be how much 1st SERP real estate we take up.  If it’s an awareness campaign to drive trial of a new product, it’s the product trial numbers.  And so on and so forth.  This could be a blog post in and of itself, as I’ve been asked to calculate ROI several times.  It’s a financial equation that tracks money spent and money made.  It’s a very easy equation.  But what’s the ROI of the telephone?  What’s the ROI of a game of golf?  It’s important to draw digital marketing outcomes to bottom line business goals.  But blindly using ROI as a rallying cry isn’t the best way to judge an agency… (imho)

“H”, indeed, Mr. Cross.

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>