You have the power!

I am in total agreement with Mitch Joel’s post about social media and Web 2.0 ushering in a new era of the role that marketing, advertising and communications were meant to play.  The push approach is something from the past and can no longer be as effective as a pull strategy.  With a pull strategy, marketers and brands can actively engage with consumers, connecting with them through conversation.  This is what I think Joel’s post is all about. 

There really has been a significant shift in control.  No longer do traditional insitutions have complete power over the messages that are communicated out into the marketplace about their brand.  And they know it!  Rather than try to fight the masses, marketers are embracing this revolutionary change.  For example, over the last two years Dove has encouraged its audience to develop UGC television spots for a contest.  The winning spot gets the space Dove purchased for their commercial during The Oscars on ABC.  Who do you think gets to choose the winner?  You!  Dove places total control in America’s hands. 

This gets me thinking…have we been so saturated by advertising and brand messages to the point where we can accurately regurgitate exactly what they (the brands) want us to say?  Has all of advertising, marketing and communications, up until now, been subconscious training?  Humm….  Maybe, maybe not.    

So we are now at the point of being citizen marketers with a little brand guidance every now and then through conversations on blogs, social networking sites, podcasts, etc.  And the institutions are sitting back in their chairs thinking…do we still need our agency?  Just some food for thought…