Quick reader poll, how long has it been since you've watched a cat video on the internet?
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Liars, there is no way that you didn't watch one today. Or maybe it wasn't a cat video, it could have been an animated GIF of some bros cheering at a ball game, or a Tumblr filled of photoshopped pics of a random dude out on dates with super models.
Let's all just admit it, we are collectively wasting the best years of our lives on this nonsense.
But all that time translates to opportunity for others, and while marketing, advertising, and PR have all been around forever, the specific skills, attitude, and aptitude it takes to connect with consumers today - in our time crunched, multitasking, and multi-device lives are possibly quite a bit different.
Check out this piece from Business Insider, This PR Agency Wants to Hire a Cat Video Technologist, on PR firm Taylor Herring's quest for this kind of new talent to get a feel for what I mean. The job ad (spoofed to look like an old-fashioned print ad) is below:
Sure, you could quibble with me in that the actual job, (and Taylor Herring assures it is real), is not different from any of the thousands of other 'social media marketer' jobs that are probably being advertised across the world right now. And you would be partly correct. The list of required skills has many familiar elements we'd recognize from similar and existing roles.
But what makes the Cat Video Technologist different are two things really. One, is that it points out directly the connection (to their business anyway), and importance of goofy internet memes like Ryan Gosling stuff and cat videos, and actual commerce. And two, the very way that Taylor Herring presented the job ad - the funny title, the internet job ad that looks like an old newspaper ad, the use of Twitter to market the opportunity, etc. all have a 'recruiting strategies of the future' feel to them as well.
The PR agency needs to find and attract some of the most creative, interesting, and social web aware people in the industry. One way to do that is to be creative, interesting, and to leverage the social web to try and make that happen. Everything about this seems smart to me, and forward-looking, so thus I bestow a Steve-approved 'Job title of the Future' to the 'Cat Video Technologist'.
Have a great week!