OK, so now I'm at Starbucks enjoying endless streaming high speed wireless access (best possible Homer voice)
My panel discussions - expertly moderated by Mr Hall covered a variety of themes related to the advertising angle associated with social media.
Here are the issues (in no respective order)
1. Agencies need to figure this critical/emerging platform/approach really quickly. With that said, it was telling that there were just 3 agencies represented at BlogOn (I don't count Mark from Organic as he was on my panel...unless he maintains he would have been here otherwise, in which case I'll concede :)) - JWT, Grey and Anomaly
[caveat: I'm not sure if they were actually present, which might take this number down to an abysmal ZERO]
2. The problem with the whole blogging/podcasting et al opportunity is that it has been predominently PR-driven. This is not to put down PR at all (I'm a huge fan)...it's just to say that advertising/brand folk have a massive role to play at the table - not just because of all the hundreds of millions of dollars they dish out to all and sundry, but because of the importance to their brands' health, relevance and equity.
Instead, it's all about damage control and minimizing risk. Uggggh - give me a break, which leads to my 2c (actually more like 33c):
- Legal Eagles and Bean counters have no place in marketing/advertising and should speak when they're spoken to
- Who knows your brand better: your consumers or you? If you answered the latter, I'm afraid you're either a liar, fool, or both.
Ultimately what's required here is - yes, the relinquishing of control - but it's more than that. It's about ego...and pride...and political crap....and recognizing that the marketing communications and brand building processes are not linear anymore.
When a consumer begins the process - recognize it and reward them - and be able to divert your funds, attention and resources elsewhere, if necessary. If you aren't acting in a non-linear fashion, I fear you may be missing out on non-linear opportunities.
Gotta catch a train, but welcome your thoughts
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