While I thoroughly love Tom Fishburne’s cartoon essays on the state of big brand marketing, I think he’s slightly off base on this one. Just to be clear, he’s not wrong; I think he’s missing an element of truth that has always been there, but hard for traditional consumer goods companies to see.
The internet has literally changed almost every aspect of our lives in one form or another. Consumer Advocates have ALWAYS been the true driving force behind product sales. Ask anyone with a limited marketing vocabulary and they’ll tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising–and they’re right.
Technology drives marketing strategy to a large degree. From the days of the “traveling doctor” in the Wild West, to Coney Island hawkers, to Saturday morning network television cartoons; advertisers used technology to their advantage because they could afford to do so. The modern internet, call it web 2.0 or social media or whatever, has allowed ALL of us to express our advocacy to the masses. Tools like Blogging, Twitter, Email, YouTube, etc… have given us the power to say what we like and dislike–especially what we dislike.
Big companies are worried about using social media as a marketing vehicle because it allows the unwashed masses to say something negative about their products or brand or name. Well guess what? People have always controlled the message; not corporations. Neighbors have always talked. Hairdressers have always gossiped. Today we live in a world where experiences are no longer contained to friends and family. Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, said it best, “the ants have megaphones.”
If you’re a marketing manager for a big company, you better get used to it because more and more power will continue to go to the customer. Pull your head out of the sand and participate in the conversation. Honesty, authenticity and real dialogue never go out of style.
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