Well, I guess I first need to define Snark & Awe.

Snark & Awe (noun): 1)      The balance point between traditional marketing experiences and the authentic engagement possible via social & digital media. 2)      The consultancy of Doug Winfield, an expert in the use of digital marketing and social media to understand and engage audiences.

I mention this because I've finally got around to launching the first edition of my Snark & Awe website, and I figured it would be wise to have some theoretical rigor behind the reasons for the name. I had (have) all kinds of grandiose visions for site features and elements for the site. However, I thought it wise to have something up. I’ve also divided my single blog into two blogs. Digital Bubble is my personal blog, and Snarkist is my all things social & digital blog. I may bring them together at some point, but it’s probably better to keep my whining away from my snark. It’s safer that way. ;-)

I'm starting to market myself under the Snark & Awe brand. The goal is to connect companies and customers via digital engagement. More on this soon, but welcome to the age of Snark & Awe!

Todd Defren of the bicoastal PR firm of the future, SHIFT Communications, wrote a post in his PR²Squared blog about my “You Need Doug Winfield” Facebook campaign. He mentions that multiple folks at SHIFT brought it to his attention and how the word-of-mouth generated by the campaign encouraged him to connect with me. That’s the exact set of actions that I desired. Although the ad says “Shift Should Hire Me”, my real goal was that SHIFT (and other targeted companies) should talk about me. Employees active on twitter notice the ads that address their company directly and have one of several reactions:

1. Ignore it (Not so good)
2. Click on the ad and view my Fanpage (Good)
3. See it talk to their friends and manager about it (Very good)
4. Get creeped out and send it to HR (Really Good)
5. Download my resume submit to HR and try to collect a recruitment bonus (A big win-win)

If that leads to an email, a phone call or a superb post like Todd’s; I feel like I’ve used a modern influential tool to engage a desired audience and potentially start relationships with interesting people. That’s never a bad thing.

Any problems so far? Sure there have been a couple. An earlier iteration of the campaign used company logos in the ads. A couple of companies objected, and had Facebook discontinue those ads. Quite understandable but I wish they had taken the social media approach and voiced their objections to me directly. Also a few folks have asked who am I to tell a company to hire me. The answer is:

I’m Doug Winfield. I’ve created digital and online experiences for the past 15 years and for the past 6+ years I’ve conceptualized and put into action methods for engaging audiences via social media conversations and digital content. I can confidently say that I would be a valuable member of your organization.

Does that make me sound like an egotistical wind bag? I sure hope not, but this is not the time to be coy, demure or submissive. Communicators (PR, Advertising & Marketing folks) need to make bold moves, innovate like crazy and explore new options. That’s what I’m all about. That’s why, “You Need Doug Winfield”.