As the wise old saying goes….”if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”.
In a personal context this isn’t a bad rule to slot into our memory banks, just between “Next week I’ll start making my lunch each day instead of buying it” and “I will finish my Christmas shopping earlier this year”.
Well, it’s not true in the field of marketing and communications, not anymore. But it’s going to take a little while for this realisation to filter up to the bigwig decision makers.
In terms of marketing there’s an incredible inertia. Old school corporate types are still ploughing money into barely-measurable, broadcast marketing methods in the hopes that if they do what they’ve always done, they’ll get what they’ve always got. What is that anyway? Brand recognition? Positive weekly ad recall surveys? ROI? or tangible connections with customers? Changes are taking place in the way people are consuming content and media and expectations surrounding our conversations with brands are shifting.
That’s not to say there isn’t merit in some broadcast methods but the shift in the balance of power is eroding the traction these old-school methods once had. This change will require brands to stop telling us they’re great and actually start being great for real…. and letting us tell each other.
Crush It. This is the new book from Gary Vaynerchuk. If you're a follower of GV already then you may not find anything new, but it's a good roundup of his point of view.
The Cluetrain Manifesto. There are some real 'Aha' moments in this book. Some people have taken their worship of The Cluetrain Manifesto (now a decade old) to ridiculous heights and I'm not one of them, but it's still a good read. Get down and read it like it's 1999. Updated.
Naked Conversations. Contains blogging's 6 pillars and other pearls of wisdom. Loads of case studies and examples that are relevant for anyone planning, or writing, a blog.
