Is the Celebrity Ambassador Dead?

It was the sure fire way to brand success in the 90s.

Find a high profile person, call them an 'ambassador' (sounds flash, right?), find an excuse to gather the media flock at an effortlessly fabulous venue (usually a private mansion, or the soon to be launched night spot to be seen) and let your star Ambassador tell everyone how fabulous your company and its products are.

Celebrity Ambassdors were the secret to brand success! It worked a treat, and in some parts of the marketing communications business-scape, still does!

But is it the sure fire road to success in todays globally mobile marketing communications environment?

New digital technologies have changed the way we communicate.

What we say, when we say it and how we say it, is increasingly dictated by a nineties launched commercial entity known as the Internet which houses information systems like the World Wide Web, (an intricate system of interlinked hyperlinked documents) that enables everyday people folk like yours truly, to store and share information (or what academia would proudly deem: knowledge).

Before most of us get up for the day, we have already reached for our smartphone to check the time, date or latest news from social networking hub, Facebook.

We may in fact be listening to BBC radio on our phone as we walk outside in search of a rolled up newspaper delivered by a spotty teen (or their supportive parent) somewhere in the vicinity of our front door. Why?

Because traditional media is not dead, it is simply a part of an enlarged mediascape that shares some of its formality, but very few of its regulations.

IBRC Conference: Social Media Risk Melbourne, Australia

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Social Media & Footy = The Art of Social from tjunee

Future Social Government, Canberra, Australia

The last time I spoke about sport and social media, Black Caviar provided the living breathing example of how great sports brands can tweet.

Today, Quade Cooper's weekend tweets provided a great example of twi-versations that occur during an employer/ employee divide.

Noone likes an unhappy workplace, however, two tweets can say a lot about a person and a company.

While 'toxic' may be an apt description of any organisational approach that uses traditional media management methodologies to 'manage' it's new media relations...

The reality is, social technologies require a socialised approach to communications.

Irrespective of whether the organisation is using them or not,the employee is, and in Cooper's case, actually leveraging the technology the way it was intended.

Could this be the 'nudge' Australian Rugby needs to finally heed the call and develop a comprehensive governance framework (think widely distributed social media guidelines, policy and contracts) for their employees both on and off the pitch around social technologies..? Let's hope so.

Why? Because if Quade Cooper leaves rugby, he'll also take over 580,000 Twitter 'followers' with him, and that's just stating the bleeding obvious. #FoodForThought

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Social Media in Government - Social Technology & International Sport from tjunee