Fishburn Hedges

28.07.2010

No, we're not talking about turning over your social media profiles to summer interns, but instead about your temporary hires demonstrating their (hopefully genuine) enthusiasm for your business.

This enterprising chap working for Cisco this summer spotted his chance to a) get spotted by senior management, and b) get spotted by the rest of the world into the bargain. Billing himself as 'the world's most interesting intern' (clearly a PR natural...), he rapped about his summer job with the IT/telecoms firm.

He also laid down a challenge to other video-loving interns to respond.

So far no-one has quite met his high standard.

So, what's the lesson for comms people?

Firstly, you can't instruct this sort of thing into your interns. 'The world's most interesting intern' has a natural flair which makes it so amusing - probably the first rap ever to include mention of lumbar-adjusted desk equipment, for example.

Secondly, it's all the more powerful for that authenticity, and underlines why every single employee, however transitory, could be your best spokesperson.

Finally, a cautionary note, though. We've seen before the power of the self-publishing revolution to embarrass companies with employees going off-piste. This could have been the same for Cisco, so do make sure internal guidelines around use of social media are clear.

Posted by Alex Pearmain