Many of us are familiar with the amazing flash mob videos that weave throughout YouTube. Defined, a flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Some of the world’s largest brands have had tremendous impact with this guerilla/social marketing technique. Just look at the impact of flash mobs for brands like T-Mobile and the massive London Underground flash dance that has garnered over 5 million views on YouTube. So what happened at the Virginia Beach flash mob on July 8? Apparently not much of anything.

Don’t get me wrong, this blog post is not to discredit an attempt at creating an attention-grabbing flash mob gathering. I give enormous credit to Team New Media Conventions for pushing the edge of social media in Hampton Roads. But with that said, as a decade-long practitioner of Internet marketing methods, I have seen the tremendous impact that well-conceived and executed social marketing methods can have for a brand.

I strongly believe that the best new media marketing stunt cannot stand alone without the power and proven efficacy of traditional advertising. The Internet is an extremely powerful marketing tool, but it cannot be an island where your brand gets marooned. New media marketing is a big piece of the advertising puzzle… a puzzle not complete until all of the pieces are in place.

“Advertising is totally unnecessary. Unless you hope to make money.” Jef I. Richards, Professor of Advertising, University of Texas at Austin.