Spend any time on YouTube (as I have been doing a lot lately) and you will quickly find that Nornna is one of the brightest stars in this galaxy. Even before she earned her moment in the sun in today's New York Times, you could tell that Nornna was going places.
Nornna, in case you don't know, is a 24 year-old Wisconsin woman who everyday posts a video blog diary of her ordinary life on YouTube. Since January she has posted some astounding 700 vids. None are particularly interesting but Nornna has become a phenomenon. There's even a meme on YouTube of people recording themselves watching Nornna. She's so popular, Nornna even has her own Wikipedia entry. Norrna is a star.
Unfortunately, the rumor is that Nornna's quitting. She's going out on top like Seinfeld and "The Bus" did and Michael Jordan should have done (remember him playing for the Wizards? Exactly.) Tributes are pouring in from Nornna's fans. This is a moment for a smart marketer to team with the Divine Miss N.
Over a year ago I suggested that marketers sign bloggers to endorsement deals. It was an "out there" idea at the time. Now it's a reality. Stowe Boyd, for example, is looking for a startup to clothe him. Nornna is next. Some marketer should sign her to a deal asap. Put her in an ad. Sponsor her to publish a vlog. Or, better yet, give her free stuff. Can you spell "book deal?" Oh and once Nornna's off the block, be sure to go ink a deal with the Ask a Ninja guy. He's the next superstar.
According to Mediapost, marketers are scared to advertise on social networks. That's because they're thinking of these sites as a places to put ads, rather than a venue for finding credible and hopefully willing spokespeople.
Nornna, Stowe and Ninja are people like us. They're the most trusted among us, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. This means that as PR morphs from driving earned media to focusing more on a direct dialogue with the public, we will all need to develop a knack for identifying rising consumer stars. Put your talent director's hat on. It's show time!
