AdAge + The Power 150 Tip The Media Scales
Originally posted on Monday, January 29 2007:
(click to enlarge)
A funny thing happened on the way to the World Economic Forum. OK, actually it didn’t happen until the end. The Assistant Managing Editor of BusinessWeek’s innovation coverage became friends with a couple of bloggers. From Nussbaum On Design:
“The soiree was swell I have now gone over to the dark side--to bloggers in the battle with MainStream Media. Of course, not all MSM folks refuse to get the idea of community, collaboration and conversation. My own boss at BW totally gets it. But there were so many at Davos who didn't.
I chatted up Jeff J. and Ariana H. and Jimmy W. (wikipedia) this trip out and found myself in alignment with them, more so than old pals at newspapers and magazines.”
Why
is this significant? It’s significant because it may capture a key
theme we could be seeing more of in the near future. Bloggers have
become respectable. Well, not all bloggers to be fair. And while some
think that Social Media and Mainstream Media have blurred all together—I
think the relationship illustrated in Bruce’s post shows both division
and alignment, if not a relationship—a relationship that appears to be
turning into—gasp...
mutual respect.
OK, I’m taking some liberties with this post. I’m editorializing you could say. Of course I am. That’s because I’m not a reporter. I don’t have to be objective. You don't come here for objectivity right? You want to hear opinions—another distinction between the MSM and Social Media content generators (though let’s be honest—we all have opinions which can seep into what we do). Here’s another interesting tidbit from Nussbaum’s recent post:
“Something important is happening and we have to be part of it and evolve with it. So Jeff and Ariana, let's get more user generated content on our blogs and deepen our conversation with our own communities.”
One could argue that the last bit seems almost cliché. “Conversation”—and “community” are fast becoming near-buzzwords in this space. But consider the source—a veteran journalist reaching out to those who sit on the other side of the “Media Scale”. In short, we may not be moving along as quickly as the hype suggests (see Second Life), but personal publishing (AKA, blogging) and the broader Social Media movement just might be gaining credibility. I’ll end on a thought I brought up during my “Blog’s Eye View” presentations:
I really enjoy your blog. I linked it on my page "The Eye for Innovation." Thanks for the great insights!
Posted by: Bob Price | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 10:46 AM
David,
I'm in the middle of blog post on my own blog about how stunned I am at mainstream ad agency ignorance about social media--and the damage they are causing to their corporate clients and--hey--mainstream media.
The best blogs, of course, are best reported so I checked you out and here I am at this great insightful post of yours. Which proves your own point--blogs are now integral to any thoughtful person's sourcing and information flow and most important--connected conversations. They just are. But will FaceBook pages join the repertoire as well? And other social media? Probably yes.
One quick thought--help me out here. Three years ago big ad agencies knew about customers but not about social media and the technology to create it. Today, all they think they know about is social media. They are sending all their corporate clients into social media regardless of the corporations real customers. Point, if you are a b-to-b company and your consumers are 45-year-old male managers, why send advertising to social networks populated by teenagers and 20-somethings? Sorry if that sounds so dumb but I am seeing that again and again. Agency people sending their clients to spaces their children play in--or their own friends frequent.
Lesson--companies have to follow their customers, not technology.
This is a lesson many older ag agencies haven't learned.
Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 11:29 AM
"One quick thought--help me out here. Three years ago big ad agencies knew about customers but not about social media and the technology to create it. Today, all they think they know about is social media. They are sending all their corporate clients into social media regardless of the corporations real customers. Point, if you are a b-to-b company and your consumers are 45-year-old male managers, why send advertising to social networks populated by teenagers and 20-somethings?"
Bruce, this is a really good question. And I've got some fairly in-depth experience as I worked with huge b2b client for nearly 5 years. In that context one of the things we did as we designed their very robust commerce experience was that we looked to areas outside of their immediate competition. We looked at the b2c space, we looked at electronics companies and service providers. Much of the inspiration came from places that had nothing to do with b2b.
So, I wonder if the same applies to the rush to understand Social Media. Though a b2b business or financial services provider may not see an immediate application in the direct sense, there are applications being developed in this space that provide insights and ideas that can lead to innovation.
Again to make this concrete, in many ways the b2c word operates at a faster pace and things that happened there eventually permeated to some areas of b2b (think Amazon and it's influence on transactions)
So the same could apply to social media and the applications being developed in this space. While there may not be a direct application—we may be getting a sneak preview of what is to become more pervasive in 3-5 years. USA Today now has "2.0" like community features, but who is to say the 5 years from now a b2b company might not have peer product reviews or direct links to each others business.
So, from my perspective education in this area whether it comes from the advertising, marketing, design or business side is a good thing because it's planting the seeds of inspiration. Seeing something in the social media space may inspire an idea for a feature or service that could result in an unexpected innovation. Not to mention—who are tomorrow's customers (answer, the 20-somethings)
Or the short answer is this: Cross pollination in preparation for future innovation.
Posted by: DA | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:03 PM
DA:
I have my own take about Ad Age's taking over Todd And's Power 150 at Fast Company today and at my blog. Right now I'm on the home page in Expert blogs...
Bruce:
I'm with David on this one. I work inside corporate America and most of my career inside pretty stodgy and conservative organizations. I know, hard to believe. Yet I manage to incorporate agility of thinking (may be what DA calls innovation) into how we create the next generation conversation with customers. Even though our target audiences right now are not in those environments, the business world as a whole is impacted by it. It's a difference of degrees and quite subtle and nuanced... yet the brand should begin to take note of that change.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:12 PM
David and Valeria,
You both are absolutely right about showing b2b companies new possibilities in new spaces. I'm with you here.
What I'm talking about is putting b2b companies in inappropriate social networking spaces. Fact: web 2.0 technology is changing so fast that social media is morphing before our eyes. Fact: consumers are moving through different social media as the media changes--and as they themselves change (as they age, as their careers change, etc.). Fact, like it or not, there is a huge percentage of middle aged managers--and consumers--in the US and around the globe that are still in print much of the time or all the time.
Teaching corporations and managers about the future is very important. That's where their consumers will be in 3-5 years. Just as important, if not more important, is getting a company's advertising message to its customers today wherever they live.
I'd argue that in a globalized, web 2.0 world, we now have an incredible number of communities, with their own cultures, demographics, rules, leaders, whatever. The number is growing fantastically every day. Ad agencies must know where the customers of their corporations live and get their advertising message to them in those communities.
And I'd argue further that many of these agencies don't have a clue. They don't due the anthropology, the due diligence. With important exceptions, they appear to be sending all their corporate clients to the social media spaces that their teenage children inhabit--or that their 20 and 30-something friends spend time in.
Not good.
Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Bruce:
Two thoughts about your closing:
"And I'd argue further that many of these agencies don't have a clue. They don't due the anthropology, the due diligence. With important exceptions, they appear to be sending all their corporate clients to the social media spaces that their teenage children inhabit--or that their 20 and 30-something friends spend time in.
Not good."
Right on for anthropology. I've educated many an agency in that respect. I had that in my background as I used to work with brain-injured children (R. Dart as influence, etc.) And due diligence -- the sale comes first but in order to make the sale work for you, you've got to make an impression -- a larger issue than a splash, it means real sales for your customer.
On your second point about sending everyone to social networks and online spaces. Perhaps there's a case of circular conversations here. I have witnessed many managers tell the creative folks what to do on design. Maybe this is a case where someone inside an organization also asks to go Web 2.0 without considerations of culture, sales cycles, people dynamics, etc. just because everyone is doing it.
What do you think, David?
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Bruce,
I think I have a better idea of where you are coming from. No, I'm not sure that the Advertising biz has a deep understanding of either current customers or even prospective ones like the ones engaged in social media. Marketing is guilty of bright and shiny object syndrome (so are some journalists BTW—though not always).
But plenty of marketers are ignoring their current customers—doing the same old things that have worked in the past. What if they thought more like designers? Take a look at what Design Continuum does in order to fully understand people.
http://www.dcontinuum.com/content/show.php?id=9
Design Continuum came up with the Swiffer idea because thy cwere in tune enough to observe an older woman who would bend down with a hand sweeper to clean up after areas she had already vacuumed. I actually don't think the issue is are we focusing too much on emerging media vs. are we not focusing enough on understanding HUMAN BEHAVIOR and why we do what we do.
This is your real point right? Does any industry do enough in this area? Certainly marketing and PR agencies screwed up big time by trying to game the "social" system and not taking enough time to understand the nuances in the space. Fake blogs with names like HP, Walmart, Sony. The list goes on...
30 second spots are no better. Remember the resurrected Orville "Deadenbocker" which was given to us by one of the hottest agencies around—Crispen Porter. The public was so grossed out (not in a good way) that ConAgra finally gave the hottest shop in Advertising the axe—so much for displaying a deep understanding of the customer.
I can't speak for an entire industry—but I can speak for myself. Because of my own curiosity and roots in design, I try to relate to the people I want to connect with by immersion in their world, trying the things they do—and I observe a lot.
That's how this blog got started in the first place anyway. :)
Posted by: DA | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:54 PM
David,
Yes, yes, exactly. It is customer culture that is the starting point for design, advertising, branding, marketing--all of the product/service/experience stuff. The people. Continuum nailed it and P&G have a $1 billion new Swiffer business from that research.
I think the reason why corporations are increasingly turning to design/innovation consultancies like Continuum, Ziba and IDEO to do "brand" work is because they connect to they have a better way--a different set of tools and methods-of connecting to people, to human behavior. The ethnography and user-focus of design that is at the heart of what they do is so different from old-style focus groups and market research. That's why IDEO just opened a NY office and why other consultancies are heading to Manhattan (or Brooklyn).
Hey, I gotta get some of this on MY blog. I'm outa here. Great conversation--proving your initial point about the growing utility and importance of blogs.
Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 02:09 PM
Great "conversation" David, Valeria and Bruce. Thanks. And I love your "bright and shiny object" metaphor David. I would modify it slightly to . . ."new, bright and shiny."
IMHO, most agencies are not strategic thinkers. They're interested solely in communication and media (the little m's of marketing), not innovative solutions to people's problems and desires.
I think the answer to Bruce's question is this: Most agencies are simply looking for something "new" to talk about and sell to potential clients; e.g. social currency, social media, viral video, etc. and Web 2.0 is that it (right now).
They view their added-value in terms of efficient generation of awareness, message engagement, word-of-mouth, etc. for their clients, so they gravitate to the platforms with the largest reach. Myopic? Indeed. But what's new? :)
Posted by: Tom Asacker | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 02:37 PM
It was reported that the rankings has not been updated by almost 3 months. Is this really true?
Posted by: charles | Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 10:36 AM