Back to the Future

I bet you never thought you’d hear Twitter being compared unfavorably to voice mail … Think again.

SayNow, a free phone service that connects celebrities and their fans through voice mail, offers its customers something they say they don’t get from Twitter—an experience that feels intimate and authentic.

You can read more in this New York Times article by reporter Brooks Barnes. In short, the service works by giving stars a personal phone number that they can publicize on their Web site, for example. SayNow’s customers—mostly teenagers—can then call and listen to recorded messages of stars directly motivating or urging them to take an action. Callers can also leave voice messages of their own, which may be shared on the SayNow Web site. According to SayNow, the service is averaging about 10 million fan calls a month—double the number over this time last year.

Voice mail may seem old-fashioned compared to newer online social media. But once again, the key to great marketing is not the medium; it’s the message.