Another year, another OMMA!  MediaPost’s 2011 OMMA Global Conference recently featured our very own Marita Scarfi during a panel session on how social media is transforming agencies and how businesses are retooling to catch up with the consumer. That was actually the core theme of the 2 day event, including sessions on Mobile, Social, Video, Search, and discussing the current inflection point for companies that are scrambling to keep up with their customers and latching onto mobile and social programs to keep up with the competition. Organic participated on the day 1 panel, “Can Madison Avenue Step Up to the Social Plate?” moderated by MediaPost’s Editor in Chief, Joe Mandese and including panelists from media and advertising companies, Reprise Media, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Optimedia.

The discussion revolved around whether advertising agencies are able to fully take advantage of the opportunities of social and tackle the organizational challenges it presents, as well as the struggles with content creation and measurement.  The point was also made that yes, we’ve been talking about the social media revolution for the last few years it seems, but the distinction now is the conversation around how different companies are tackling (successfully or not) the giant of social media and focusing on where the responsibility of social lives – within the agency, brand or both?

From a digital agency perspective, Organic has been talking about social a LOT lately and across multiple channels here on Threeminds. Most importantly, discussing the pervasiveness of social and the need for strategic partnerships to deliver the right brand experience. As Marita stated, social touches every part of the organization and as a single agency, one can’t solve all those problems. The same goes for businesses, bringing to mind a Wall Street Journal article this week highlighting how some big name brands are tapping college students to boost their local social media and internet presence. Electronics and consumer goods companies including Sprint Nextel Corp. and Mattel Inc. are partnering with universities and sponsoring online marketing classes in exchange for promotional tweets, likes, etc. This somewhat grass-roots initiative is just one example as part of a larger emerging trend towards innovative partnerships as businesses are looking for more direct and effective ways to interact with their customers on social channels.

As a lot of the reaction coming out of the event and the resulting dialogue around social has been, #It’sComplicated, the perfect approach to the medium may still be just as unclear at next year’s OMMA. However, hopefully by then we’ll have more social successes to pick apart, share and learn from.

-Stephanie Park