I Am The Media

Blogs aren't growing at the predicted rate   
Participation on Web 2.0 remains weak
Executives remain wary of Web 2.0

Somebody forgot to send Alain Thys the memo that participation and adoption of Social Media isn't as compelling as we think.  A few months ago, he created an amazing presentation which takes a comprehensive look at how our relationships with brands and each other is changing.  Given the recent headlines, you should really check this out as  a Ying to the Yang of the other reports.  Alain has done an amazing job of blending stats with story.  This is a wonderful presentation.  Wish I could have seen it in person.

Comments

[Drew]

I just finished reading the presentation on the Marketing and Strategy Innovation Blog and thought, "Everyone involved in marketing needs to see this." Glad to see we're on the same page. I'm not surprised by that last "Executives still Weary..." article. Being immersed in the web2.0 phenom it's hard to realize that we might still be in the "early adopter" phase of a lot of this Web 2.0 stuff.

[harry]

It was a point made in the presentation, but I think it bears repeating (and emphasis): traditional media will influence word of mouth. Word of mouth may be the #3 purchase influence that people identify, but traditional communications still play a big part in their perception and emotions about a brand. My gut tells me that people will downplay this in a poll.

Of course, those communications have to be successful and well executed. But how many people would feel the way they do about Apple, or Harley Davidson, or Nike, or Ben & Jerry's, were it not for their excellent ads?

[alain thys]

Thanks for the flowers David. I'm working on a post regarding that memo which I apparently missed (actually I did get it, yet chose to ignore :-) When it's finished I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[csven]

I just asked about this on the Church of the Customer blog ( http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/04/more_data_for_t.html ), but figure maybe someone here can answer it: In short, why the big surprise?

[Doug Meacham]

Wow, Great presentation! Thanks for sharing it. Interesting that the Edelman Trust Barometer listed "PR Person" as the second least trusted information source, only slightly ahead of the last place finisher - The Blogger.

The section on storytelling really hit home for me. Igniting & fueling people's passions, presenting yourself through stories that connect and can be retold, being authentic, and delivering consistently excellent experiences. These are ways to drive brand loyalty. To bad its not at as easy as it sounds.

[DA]

Doug,

I liked it for pretty much the same reasons you listed.

[Adam]

It's a lovely presentation, especially the layout.

Now, brands as storytellers. Erm, no.

In their rush to the bottom 'brands' have now reached the granularity of dust. They want to be sprinkled over things.. like fairy dust.. awww, isn't that cute?!

Brands can ATTEMPT to care about something more than money. Problem is, the second your big bro brand starts hurting the balance sheet, say bye bye to big bwo bwand.

I HAVE to pull you all up on this brand boosterism. Please take a step back and look seriously at what you're saying or supporting. ("Authentic", what planet do you guys live on? Seriously...)

'Have your customers tell the story' Why? Why should they? Because they love it. Do people really spread their gushes without any incentive? Ooops! Yes they do. Genuinely they do. But with all this social media me, ME, MEE! going on, do we really trust that WOM HASN'T been paid for? Of course not! The whole web2.0 business model is about getting the banner ads off the sidebar and into people's mouths - but don't swallow, not yet.

Media now means I am the ad space. Convince me different. I'd be seriously impressed.

Step back... this presentation is about commodifying a quite human process: talking. No, you cry, I have to all wrong. It's about inspiring and facilitating positive WOM. No. Every time the brand thinkers find a way to capture, to hold, mold and package a human behaviour, it slips out of their fingers. The very forces you propose to depend upon, the chatty web, will only accelerate the slippage. People are already their own stories, their own media, they always were. They just didn't have ad stuck on their back and words shoved down their mouths in the hopes they'll be sicked up over their friends later.

In the end this brand storytelling is the same old story but with a few dopes included to make it seem user-generated, thus wanted. It's a palliative to brands, media, and visual types. Yes you can show me a cute girl grinning to make it 'look all okay' and not at all dodgy. I wish her a future where she doesn't need 'brands' to help her tell stories. Does she look like she needs a 'brand' to tell a story to you? Does she?? A sick manipulation. A symptom of a deep seated hatred (or envy) of mankind is to anticipate she'll just want them. Leave her the hell alone.

The 'story' is simply, business as usual. A grubby word, that: business. Every business is about controlling flows of information. Influencing, inspiring is not enough. Control is king. Don't like that? Me neither. The solution is to do away with companies larger than 3! And that also means getting out of the big brands business and setting up shop yourself. Wanna do that? Or wanna wait until you HAVE to do it?

That Business Week 'Executives...' article, says it all ready. Information wants to be free and you are your information. When the myspace generation finally figure that out...

YES, yes, it was always the steak. So why carry on with all this storytelling sizzle? I know you have a job in a agency someplace... *sighs* don't we all. Never meant we had to leave our brains at home... oh, maybe it did!

Want to influence me? Then just make bloody good products and get out of my face - and my mouth!

Don't be dirty, I didn't mean... that ;P

[Sean ODriscoll]

nice ppt. I think the Reuters article misses the point of the breadth of participation types from thick "authors" to thin "taggers" and everything in between. I was thinking about this today: http://communitygrouptherapy.com/2007/04/29/reuters-missing-the-point-on-web-20-participation-rates/

Sean
Communitygrouptherapy.com