For some time now the misty eyes of the communications sector have been firmly fixed on the seemingly limitless possibilities of social media. Indeed for those who have been in the communications and marketing business for long enough it must seem as though their time honoured, tried and tested tricks of old have been cast aside and that now, in the enforced ‘old timers’ phase of their careers, they’re are going to have to learn some, well, new tricks.

Yet perhaps the beginning of a change is on the horizon. Communications agency Smarts Communicate have launched a new division of their business; ‘Amplify’. Believed to be the first of its kind in Ireland, Amplify will operate on an international scale promoting the brand profiles of high profile clients such as MTV, Johnnie Walker and Coca Cola using a two thronged approach of new and old.

Whilst social media has paved the way for previously incomprehensible levels of engagement with the public it cannot deliver the personal touch of a well thought out campaign that incorporates events and experiences. However a collaborative effort between those with access to the masses and those who know what the masses want to see and hear could engage with customers and clients on a more personal, emotive platform from which the brands can be promoted.   

Smarts Communicate marketing director Pippa Arlow says as much; “by bringing together traditional public relations techniques with emerging new technologies, Amplify can create immersive brand experiences on a global scale”. It certainly doesn’t signal the end of the social media age but an approach involving social media with a human touch perhaps does herald a return to a more immersive, social age of communications.