Everyone, it seems, has by now heard about the Man with the Golden Voice. Ted Williams, a former DJ who found himself homeless after succumbing to drug abuse, was recently re-discovered. He was “found” at an intersection in Ohio, as he was holdi

ng a sign, asking for money, proclaiming his voice was an amazing gift from God.

A reporter found him, then returned to film him, and then broadcast his findings. The rest is history, and within a matter of days the Ted Williams everyone was talking about was not a baseball player.

This is the initial video that started this all – and offers a glimpse of Williams, his rich voice, and his eloquence.

On January 4th, he hit the national news scene, but as the article stated, he wasn’t famous – yet. Click here for an article that was in the NY Daily News that day.

Two days later, January 6th, he was on Jimmy Fallon and was recording commercials for Kraft. (check out this clip if you haven’t yet – Williams is so entertaining and well spoken.)

So what can a marketer learn? There are several takeaways from this story.

• A short, authentic, true-to-life video that tells a tale will captivate people. And has the potential to go viral.
• A compelling story will capture the attention of the media. And of the general public. And then potentially the world.
• And when messages get our via social media and traditional media, a story can spread very, very quickly.

Marketers, take note. Find a compelling story. Determine how to best tell this story. Figure out the communication channels that will best get your story to your target audiences – use a combo of traditional media and new media. And don’t forget the power of integrating PR with social media.

I aim in 2011 to continue to explore how the new media channels and the “older school” tactics work together. They aren’t mutually exclusive, nor can either work in a silo to be effective. But working together, to reach people in the myriad ways they want to be reached and can be reached, social and traditional medias are powerful beyond belief.

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Filed under: Branding, Messaging, Social Media, Uncategorized on January 8th, 2011