Nobody is happy right now. The new media culture is almost entirely a pirate-happy, self-entitled, free-loading, hater society. Nobody plays physical team sports anymore so they decide to badmouth every blog post about every client you have as a form of physical therapy -- stress release. And they can at will from the isolation and insulation of their Aeron Chair. Heaven forbid anyone actually say something positive when they have a good experience.
I understand. I've been a creative director for agencies and a corporate marketing chief. I'm now an entrepreneur and I feel your pain.
But the fact remains. The socialistic idealism of the dot-com has finally caught up with us a decade later. Everything is free or dying. Nobody is getting paid. Seasoned web veterans like Om Malik are obviously at the end of their rope when they cast aspersions at other veterans like Seth Godin. I feel your pain.
Give them so much transparency they tell you to shut up and just tell them what to buy. How?
Honestly, there's one way out. And it's not by lobbying and passing legislation. Your brand and your clients' brands will immediately be hated as the enemy and stand alongside the RIA. Amazon is charging old media like newpapers 70% of its revenues to license Kindle. Pleading before a judge is not the way to engender public confidence in this new flat consumer terrain.
The age of borrowing credibility from a model's straight set of teeth and publication or media outlet's long standing brand recognition is now over. Consumer's now cross Google every claim, every statement, every pricetag, and every model you hire to rep a client. The age of borrowed credibility is over. The FTC is even working to pass legislation that caves to the demands of the consumer by mandating that every blogger disclose if he is being paid to mention a company (While a movie like Transformers is overflowing with product placements from the likes of Cisco Webex without any disclosure).
The Solution, since everyone demands total transparency, give them more than that. Give them so much transparency, they will buy your client's products already. Give them so much transparency they ask you to shut up and just hand them the bill. How? Become the new "Consumer Mentor" (TM). Educate, build confidence in your subject matter expertise, build trust, but most of all, build your intellectual property community. In the end, even you and I would rather be told what to buy from a trusted mentor than Google it for ourselves.
The Solution, since everyone demands total transparency, give them even more than that
Contact me to talk about how to build your intellectual community. I'll address your interests and we can both decide if there is an opportunity to work together. Reach me on twitter @journik or call the old fashion way and do leave your twitter address at 310 598 1606 - Bob Wan-Qi Kim
And ofcourse, if you're not ready to work with a net-native quite yet or would rather go it alone for the experience of it all, I highly advise you do so with this guide book to building trust in the new social media:
I've never met Chris Brogan but everything he has produced and what I've heard of him tells me I'm missing out.
Comments [0]