Nancy

Lublin of DoSomething.org is Documented@Davos Transcript Documented@Davos 2012 RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Welcome to our Documented@Davos coverage of the World Economic Forum. My name is Randi Zuckerberg, and I am thrilled to be here with Nancy Lublin, CEO and chief old person of dosomething.org. Great title. NANCY LUBLIN: Thank you. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: It must be refreshing to come and be one of the youngest people at the World Economic Forum. NANCY LUBLIN: I used to be, but now they have the Global Shapers. So there are 70 truly young people walking around Davos. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: I guess they really carted in all the young people. NANCY LUBLIN: They did. They shipped in some young people. And I had a big birthday last year, so I guess I'm never going to feel young again. Sad. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Young at heart. NANCY LUBLIN: Forever. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Now you're doing some really exciting work with teens. One of the things that I've been reading a lot recently is that teens are definitely savvier about privacy online than people think they are. What do you think people would be surprised to know about teens and tech? NANCY LUBLIN: They're much savvier. We were surprised. I mean, the savvy actually isn't surprising us because we interact with teens all the time. I think the savvy stuff is surprising really old people. Here's something that's surprising. We're doing a lot with texting. 2 billion people text every day. It's the number one form of communication for teens, is actually texting. 50% of them have an auto text signature. This was super surprising. So there are things like they'll send a text to their mom, like we'll be home for dinner. Guns into air. Or like, need to do my homework. Dance like no one's watching. Like really random-- RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Sounds like their identity. NANCY LUBLIN: That's their identity and it's automated onto every text message they send. And sometimes they make no sense, and we were really shocked to find that.

 RANDI ZUCKERBERG: That's amazing. So mobile, huge among this demographic. What are some of the things that you guys are working on there? NANCY LUBLIN: So mobile, everybody thinks about mobile apps and mobile web. And we're working on that. We're going to release the first one of those. We actually just hired a chief digital officer. So Adam Hirsch just joined us from Mashable. He's going to be overseeing all of that. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: That's great news. NANCY LUBLIN: It's great news. And those are going to be released soon. But we're really focused on text, which is kind of like the old-- it's like the typewriter of the technology world. No, but people don't use a typewriter anymore. It's like-- I don't now. I've got to think of a better metaphor. But people are actually texting. And teens especially are texting more than anything else. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Like if we were teens right now, we wouldn't even be having this conversation verbally. We would just be-- NANCY LUBLIN: Or we'd be texting while doing it. Being like, love your lipstick. Love your shoes. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Guns blazing. NANCY LUBLIN: I do, by the way. I love the shoes. What would be your auto text signature? I'm just turning the tables now. What would be your auto text signature if you had one? RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Something about Vegas probably. Classy with a touch of Vegas. NANCY LUBLIN: Great. Like this week mine would have to be what happens in Davos, stays in Davos. Is that a good text-- RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Oh, I like that. Except with media it doesn't really stay in Davos. NANCY LUBLIN: No, it doesn't really, does it? But that's the other thing about texting that's interesting, is that's an inherently one-on-one technology. So while people talk about it as a social medium because it's mobile. So everything we're doing with text is exciting. The opt out rate is low, the action rate is high. It has a 100% open rate, a 100% open rate. It over indexes for minority and urban youth. The only sticky part is that it's not social, so it's very hard to grow.

RANDI ZUCKERBERG: So what brands do you think are really targeting teens well and engaging teens well? NANCY LUBLIN: We love Aeropostale. We work a lot with Aeropostale. Probably not the one you expected me to say, but one in six teens has Aeropostale in his or her closet. It's actually really popular, ever-present brand. I think they're doing a really great job. But with respect to social, one of the first big "causey" things was, of course, the Chase Community Giving Platform on Facebook, which was really smart and continues to innovate. And it's just surprising to get innovation from a bank. But I think that was brilliant. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And what do you think a nonprofit could do successfully to really engage this demographic? NANCY LUBLIN: Yeah, I like to joke that we're not a nonprofit. That nonprofit are probably several other people you're going to interview here and a lot of Detroit. So we're a not-for-profit. And I think it's being authentic. So a lot of people have hired someone to run social media and siloed it. And so that's the person who's tweeting. So I actually tweet for the Do Something account, which is one of the largest charitable Twitter accounts. So we've got over half a million Twitter followers. And I do most of the tweeting. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: That's great. NANCY LUBLIN: I think it's important for our followers to have an authentic relationship with a real person at the organization who's making decisions. Every once in a while, I also am sure to tweet something completely inappropriate. It just sort of keeps it real. So I think that the authenticity of social media is really important. And to have it be one person and have that person's unique personality, like the guy who does our Facebook group is obsessed within Dance Moms. It's his favorite TV show. So every once in a while is a little comment there about Dance Moms, and I just think that our Facebook audience is like, OK, you're keeping it real. I think we forget that and we sort of over-- RANDI ZUCKERBERG: No, you have to be authentic. NANCY LUBLIN: It's social media. It was supposed to be about relationships. It wasn't supposed to be about promotion. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And now I know you've been to Davos a few times. What has been your favorite moment or experience here?

NANCY LUBLIN: Well, last night. Here you go, breaking news at Documented@Davos. Exclusive. Last night was the Young Global Leader party. And there was one sort of old global leader in the room. So somehow Mick Jagger was there and crashed the party, which was awesome. So I feel like the Young Global Leaders are now officially-- RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Did he have moves like Jagger? NANCY LUBLIN: Well, we did play the song. We did convince the DJ to put on "Moves Like Jagger." RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And he didn't ditch? NANCY LUBLIN: Didn't react at all. But I think that's probably because it's like the soundtrack to his life right now. I think everywhere he goes, it probably trails him. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: He just enters a room, it just starts playing. NANCY LUBLIN: I think so. Yeah, so that was kind of cool. And then there's this woman, Randi Zuckerberg, who sings at the piano bar. That's always a favorite moment at Davos. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: It's a rumor. Just a rumor. NANCY LUBLIN: Is it just a rumor that she exists or that she sings? I don't know. That's always a cherished moment. I hope I see you there later tonight. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Perhaps. Well, thank you so much for joining us. You are doing really incredible work with an important demographic online. And I think it's really awesome what you're doing to get teens motivated to give back. NANCY LUBLIN: Yeah, millions of teens doing good things. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: So thanks so much for everything. Please follow the rest of our coverage, scribd.com/documentedatdavos, or follow our hash tag #DavosDocs on Twitter. Thanks.