The benefit of Facebook, Twitter and other social mediums is that they instantly connect people to people, companies to people, brands to people, and all of these individuals and groups to current events, such as holidays, elections and so forth. While 95% of this is done in mostly good taste and spirit, as a brand marketer, I felt that the best reaction a company and its brand(s) could have to Friday’s devastating news was to have no reaction at all. In essence, silence. Once the news was fully out and most of the correct facts were known, we instantly ceased all planned Facebook and social activity for the day and subsequent weekend for each client. We didn’t rush to the C-suite to prepare a condolence message from “company or brand XYZ”….we opted for respect and mourning in radio silence. Our return to activity this past Monday was done carefully and with thought.

I know it is the human way to attach ourselves to large events…to be the rubberneckers of society’s biggest news in some way, to give it meaning in our own lives, but there are times when quiet is actually more powerful, more respectful. When I kept seeing messages about holiday deals posted amid the updates on the number of deceased, I felt a bit dirty. However, I also don’t need to know that the brand of shoes I wear, the spray that cleans my windows or the beverage I drink is thinking of Newtown….we ALL were and still ARE thinking of Newtown. I “like” many brand pages since it is my line of work, and I was inundated with this messaging to a point where it was borderline obnoxious. The notion that this tragedy had a hashtag on Twitter – that brands were using – is absurd. I’m offended by that as both a mother and a marketer, and equally as such.

While of lesser importance, I find this similar to holiday greetings. I’m not of the mindset that our clients’ brand pages need to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day or a Merry Christmas on Facebook….so many brands do this and all it does is create white noise. So much so, that is loses its meaning anyway and can actually invite negative feedback (“It’s not HAPPY HOLIDAYS, its Merry Christmas,” consumers retort).

Therefore, I beg of brands, businesses and their marketers to consider this for their New Year’s resolution: decide that saying nothing might be more powerful than saying anything at all.

It’s been a great year and we just needed to celebrate the holidays Gangnam…oops…wait…we mean Santa Style! Happy Holidays from the RL&A team! Enjoy the video, and don’t worry, none of us is giving up our day jobs to dance in videos!

I normally love the holiday season because it gives me a reason to shop. This holiday shopping season, however, seems different to me, for reasons I’m not totally clear on – yet. I haven’t been able to work up my normal enthusiasm for having an actual reason to shop – and buy. For those of you who may not know me very well, I am a consummate shopper, and the true arrival of online shopping – with its continual barrage of emails about online sales all designed for someone just like me who can’t pass up a “bargain,” has brought this, okay, obsession to a completely new level. Passing up a 30% off online sale at my favorite retailer is not a real option for someone like me.

My shopping melancholy probably began after hurricane Sandy, with all its tragic images/messages of the thousands of people/families facing long term impact on the basics of normal life, starting with a roof over your head. That kind of thing is a no-brainer for killing off the instinct to purchase what basically amount to non-necessities, or what we’ve come to call “holiday gifts.” What good is a 50-inch flat screen if you have no living room to put it in?

Retailers haven’t given up on me, it seems. My mailbox is chock full every day with a half dozen or so catalogues from the usual, and the unusual, wanting my discretionary holiday money. I wonder if others in the NY area are feeling this way?  I personally know people who post Sandy are still not back living in their own homes, sleeping on friends’ or relatives’ sofas, worrying that they’ve long out-stayed their welcome, or, if and when their own homes might become  livable again. And while these hurricane victims’ stories are no longer the lead stories in the news, I can’t seem to forget about them when it comes time to click that “purchase” button.

My immediate and expanded families have decided that we are going to low-key the gift giving this year – nothing major or expensive. And instead of our usual Secret Santa where each of us buys one gift for a specific person, we have decided to donate all that money to a charity that’s helping out Sandy victims. (Sorry, retailers.)

On a more upbeat note (and to show that I actually have clicked the purchase button post Sandy), I just found this interesting book on Amazon – “What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping” by Paco Underhill. While he won’t be commenting on hurricane Sandy’s effect on holiday shopping, perhaps he will offer up something that will help me out of my shopping funk in time for the post- holiday sales.

Happy shopping everyone! And by-the-way, Anti Monkey Butt Powder makes a great stocking stuffer!

As the Olympics come to a close, it’s been interesting to observe the International Olympic Committee’s self-proclaimed “social media games” and the lessons learned. What was intended as a means of communications and promotion for the Olympics has turned into a means for change for the athletes. Will the IOC, an organization steeped in tradition, modify their social media guidelines for the next Olympics?

It’s amazing to witness the continual evolution of social media and its ability to inspire and move people to action.