Star says Israel needs to showcase its “smart, intelligent, bright, caring people who are looking for solutions in the world.”
By BEN HARTMANAshton Kutcher(photo credit: Ronen Tofelberg)
Social networking wunderkind and That ’70s Show star Ashton Kutcher delivered a talk on new media at the Bezeq Expo in Tel Aviv on Monday, where he provided tips on how to use new forms of communication and networking to market Israel.“The first thing I would do is ask you, who do you want to market to? Because a general marketing campaign for the whole world doesn’t work; in some parts of the world they won’t like the message, and in other parts of the world they will,” he said. “The first thing you need to decide is who do you want to influence and what do you want to say to them.”Kutcher, who this year was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for his mastery of social networking, said Israel must figure out which groups to target, by “being honest with them and having open, candid conversations about what Israel is and who it is, because the people here are amazing – the young people here are amazing. The entrepreneurs here are incredible.”RELATED:Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore share 'love and light' in IsraelKutcher added that Israel needs to showcase its “smart, intelligent, bright, caring people who are looking for solutions in the world.”He spoke of a meeting he attended on Sunday with Israeli alternative-energy guru Shai Agassi, saying, “It’s a travesty that the US isn’t already working with them.This is an Israeli country.Show people that; encourage them to see what’s going on here. You should have this open-ended conversation about what’s going on here.”Kutcher’s wife, actress Demi Moore, attended Monday’s talk, but was shuffled out after her husband’s speech before the cameraphone- wielding minions could descend on her. Kutcher admitted that he and his wife often sit at home Tweeting to one another while sitting in the same room.Hours after the talk, Kutcher turned to his favorite soapbox, Tweeting “Rocking out the Bezeq expo. Love getting a glimpse of the future.”
He is consistently rated as the “most-followed” user on Twitter, with 5,914,509 followers at last count.Kutcher is an avid follower of Kabbala, and in 2005 married Moore in a private ceremony officiated by a rabbi from the Kabbala Center in Los Angeles. Rumors have circulated that Kutcher and Moore plan to renew their vows during this visit to Israel.The annual Bezeq Expo is one of the largest events in the Israeli communications industry and highlights a wide-range of Israeli innovations. This year’s theme was “Communications in a Multidimensional World.”For Kutcher’s sake, let’s hope one of those dimensions will have access to Twitter.
