Simon Young

So I’ve got another job title.

Not only am I creative instigator at SimonYoungWriters, catalyst and cofounder and iJump, co-conspirator at Looksy.org, and freelance journalist. I’m also “senior writer at Marketing Magazine“.

It was a title of convenience, dreamed up because Graham Medcalf, our editor, found himself double booked to give a 5 minute spiel as sponsor of the Hitwise Online Performance Awards.

Having never given such a speech before, and suffering from a massive lack of sleep this week, I took the unprecedented step of actually writing a speech.

Of course I didn’t say it like I wrote it. But if I had, here’s what I would’ve said:

I’m here on behalf of Graham Medcalf, editor of Marketing Magazine.

He couldn’t be here because he’s been urgently called back to his homeland of Zimbabwe. Apparently they’re looking for someone to run things!

I love awards nights.  Because everyone deserves recognition.

The big campaigns and sites you’ll read about in the pages of Marketing Magazine, as well as the genius ideas that build customer engagement, raise brand value and drive up profits … without fitting into a traditional case study template.

In 2008, winning ideas are small and perfectly formed.

No – scratch that, they’re not perfect, which is why they’re great.

They’re light, nimble ideas that evolve and change in response to feedback. They’re the small ideas that will move our professional forward.

In the  current issue of Marketing Magazine, my cover story looks at the painfully slow adoption of search marketing – both organic and paid – among New Zealand companies.

Why would these businesses miss out on the most accountable advertising medium ever invented?

They fail to think small. Search began as the affordable way for the little guys to level the playing field.

It just doesn’t fit the corporate model.

The same thing’s happening now with YouTube videos and employee blogs.  While 15-year-olds now have unfettered access to the tools once reserved for media moguls, big companies find themselves all thumbs when face with these powerful, small new tools.

Tonight we acknowledge organisations large and small who have overcome the barriers, thought small, and made a big difference.

Here’s to the little guys.

Have a great night!