Monday, April 10, 2006
Consumer Generated Media Will Change Marketing
byThere is an interesting topic on Adrants today. The whole misappropriated make-your-own-tahoe-commercial-thing last week really got this discussion going. With all the capabilities that Web 2.0 provides, people are now creating more content than the media giants. There are over 30 million blogs in this country alone, not to mention podcasts, video sharing, photo sharing, do-it-yourself commercials, and social networks.
Consumers are empowered to make buying and brand decisions with an almost frictionless flow of information. And now, more than ever, those consumers have the ability to become brand evangelists or detractors, with powerful Web-enabled tools to let their thoughts and opinions be heard. The question that Adrants is asking is how will this affect the typical marketer-in-control, top-down approach to marketing of the past? Given this new consumer-content paradigm, what is the best way to “manage” a brand? Can a brand be managed today? The article points to a forum on the topic. You have to join the Soflow Network (free) to get in the forum, but if you want to take the time, there is some great discussion about this whole issue.
This is going to be a big deal. Consumer content is forever altering the marketing landscape. Like many things on the Web, it is difficult to say exactly how all this will change the way things are done. One thing is for sure, though—marketing power brokers of the past will have to operate in a much more egalitarian, transparent world where the power is distributed between the sellers and the buyers.
Adrants also has more on consumer generated content here.
