Steve Ballmer, YouTube and the Importance of Being Mindful |

A new video that Nadia Bilchik and I put together focuses on helping manage brands and corporate reputations in the age of YouTube. It is also the focus of a Linkedin group we created called Media Training in the YouTube Age.

We live in a world where everything we do can appear on YouTube even when that is not our intention. Where the goal is maximizing exposure, Nadia and I have found that stretching corporate boundaries and being authentic increase your chances of going viral. Being over-scripted and staying too on-message can alienate your audience. But stretching boundaries is no guarantee of success. Sometimes, these performances can produce negative reactions and turn you and your company into a joke.

The same is true for performances that were never intended for public consumption. How do you effectively connect with your audience and guard against any damage should a videotape of your performance wind up plastered all over YouTube?

Enter Stage Left: Steve Ballmer

steveballmer

Consider a YouTube video of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer jumping around the stage at a Microsoft event. It has generated more than 1.8 million hits, over 5,200 comments and is the second most popular search result under the key words: Steve Ballmer. Most of us would die for numbers like that. Or die of embarrassment. It reminds me of Tom Cruise’s acrobatics on Oprah’s couch.

Or take for example the Bank of America manager whose rendition of a U2 song set to Bank of America lyrics at a corporate event generated a half million hits and nearly 800 comments – many like these:

boa

He never dreamed his performance would make it to YouTube and generate the response it did. He probably wished he had stayed home that day.

Being Mindful

Since you don’t know who is recording, who is posting and how you will be received, you need to be mindful – mindful of your immediate audience and the world beyond as well as your message, your performance, your objectives, and your customers’ perceptions of you.

Nadia and I disagree about the Steve Ballmer video. I think it is embarrassing. She believes it shows a different, less stodgy side of the company. One thing seems clear. It was meant to rally troops, not set off a viral storm. But the impact on the Microsoft brand was negligible. People know Microsoft and know Steve Ballmer. Few companies and even fewer CEOs can withstand this kind of authenticity. Remember the Howard Dean scream? It derailed his presidential bid. Microsoft is more the exception than the rule.

Audiences want authenticity. But before embarking on a Steve Ballmer like performance, you need to ask what your customers would find acceptable, funny or disturbing if your performance went viral on YouTube? What risks are you willing to take? How much exposure can you withstand? Is your brand strong enough to absorb a negative reaction?

Maybe you should avoid jumping on stage or singing a cover song. But don’t play it too safe. Hiding behind scripts and message points doesn’t work either. Audiences want more from presenters, and an unintended audience on YouTube is not afraid to mock or criticize a wooden performance.

And so we must enter any corporate or public setting with the knowledge that our actions may appear for the world to see. Mindfulness allows us to anticipate negative feedback. Mindfulness helps us to tailor corporate messages to fit the individual who is delivering them. When a rogue video makes its way to YouTube, mindfulness will help protect your brand and in the best case scenario can even enhance it.

Let me get back to you.

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