Marketing Pilgrim

Advertising has always been about making a connection with your audience, but thanks to social media, being conversational has become even more important. Best Buy is embracing that concept with the official launch of “Best Buy On,” a chatty tech and entertainment online magazine that will also provide in-store video content.

The tricky part of this whole venture is providing interesting content that doesn’t come across as advertising. Best Buy says they’re also straying away from traditional reviews, lest they get themselves in trouble with their suppliers.

Here’s how they describe the venture:

When I worked in Manhattan about 3 or 4 lifetimes ago I used to love stopping at looking at what was offered at a newsstand. Magazines about just about everything and every daily newspaper that great city had to offer. Just scanning the contents could give you an overview of what was going on in the entire world through headlines. In a way, it was the content portal of its time (this was pre commercial Internet remember, back when we used smoke signals to get by).

Well, I haven’t had that experience in a long time and honestly, the online news experience has virtually no visceral quality so it’s just not the same at all.

Facebook is reportedly receiving a combined total of $500 million in new investment money with $450 million coming from Goldman Sachs and another $50 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies.

This is all happening based on a jaw dropping $50 billion valuation of Facebook.

Speculation as to what is going to be done with this money runs a wide range.

From Mashable

The first thing Facebook’s likely to do with its $2 billion in new funding is to cash out some of its existing investors and employees. The social network previously did this when DST bought $200 million in Facebook stock from its employees. Some of its early investors may also reach into the $2 billion pot and cash out.

Once that’s done, it’s all about growth.

Thank you for all of your support during 2010. From all of us at Marketing Pilgrim, we wish you a very happy New Year!