By now or very soon the internet phenomenon that is now Matthew Epstein will cross your path in the digital or media sphere. For those that don't know, Senior Epstein has launched a marketing campaign to try and launch a product marketing career at Google. Armed with $3,000 in savings the budding Googler launched a website (googlepleasehire.me) matched with specific child pages that described his knowledge of Google products, how he utilizes them in his daily life, why Google is the company for him, and how he could potentially add value. He even produced his own viral video as a wonderful welcome to his glorfied resume and cover letter. Creative? Absolutely. Can the kid create a persona? For sure, part of his brand strategy was to make himself a larger than life character that sports a mustache as a manner of logo and brand more than a gimmick. As a self-proclaimed cross between Old Spice Guy and Chuck Norris, the persona is probably the most critical aspect of M.E.'s campaign to cross through to Google's vaunted Mountain View pearly gates.
So the question is will M.E. achieve his goal? Google has responded by asking him to go through the proper recruiting channels, but they definitely noticed. But the real question is, why in the world does he need Google anymore? With major tech blogs (TechCrunch and Hacker News) and news outlets reporting his campaign, he has launched into something bigger and its not clear if he realizes it yet. If and when his self-promoting stunt hits critical mass, hasn't he basically already succeeded at achieving the goal of why he is wanting to go to Google in the first place? M.E. clearly states that his whole inspiration is to sit at the feet of the Googler Rock-Stars and soak up their guidance and gospel. In crafting a serious, but fun campaign M.E. has proven that he has the ingenuity, creativity, and execution that most PMs, even at super companies like Google lack. So maybe M.E. should take a page out of Google's playbook and continue his innovative direction by using his entrepreneurial chutspa for himself? He may have a lot more fun crafting quirky marketing campaigns for local products and sarcastic startups.
Beyond Epstein, this has shown a general trend of social campaigns now beginning to bowl over out of the standard Facebook page or YouTube video. People are beginning to use the internet in fantastic new ways as our ability to share information settles into Moore's Law. Viral or social campaigns have become the new norm and seem to be doubling at a pace that makes the markets blush. From Betty White and her SNL crowd-demanded appearance to viral campaigns for A-list Celebrity dates for the Military Ball, new creative campaigns are popping up each day and will only continue to multiiply as the long-tail of consumer retail and web gain education and access to the social connections that are building accross the planet. Can you imagine a day when Epstein's campaign becomes the norm? It is a brave new world.
Welcome to this blog among a sea of other tech and entertainment blogs... Hopefully you gain a bit of perspective and share your own.
-K
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