« Viral - Part 8 - Wrap Up | Main | Peer To Peer File Sharing: Good or Bad for the Music Business? »
January 16, 2006
The Cluetrain Manifesto - Where does it leave the marketers?
This is a comment on the Cluetrain Manifesto
Over the last decade there has been a change in how skeptical the audience is of advertising and how smart shoppers will skip the marketing material and go straight to the reviews posted by the public. Online entities like Amazon have embraced and helped to cultivate the online experience of sharing information and customizing relevant content for visitors. Products like the Dyson vacuum and the I-pod have grabbed huge market shares and had to do very little advertising in the traditional sense. The biggest selling point is a well-designed product that works.
By not talking down to the consumers and employees, companies will get quality work and positive feedback all around. It sums it up best when Petzinger quotes Elivis “We can’t go on together with suspicious minds.” Consumers have been burned time and again and now their guard is up. As soon as there are any signs of being insincere the audience will walk away and look at what the competitors are up to.
This leaves a huge challenge for those in advertising. Not only does the placement of the message need to be reevaluated, but also the client’s hand needs to be held. As scary as it will be for them, they will need to take some chances. There will be stumbles along the way but those who look at the product, from development to delivery, as an all around entity will have the most success.
All one has to do is look at the customer reviews for the hottest selling products on the market. Design, ease-of-use, and customer service are the driving forces. The networked community will get the truth out about products and services. Companies, who listen and keep their egos and pride in check, will be embraced by the community.
The idea that communities will exist and those who are active and participate will benefit is a positive direction for a marketplace where the miss directed message is money out the window. There is a lot of skepticism that, by tracking users and feeding them a targeted message, freedoms are being lost. Networked communities are ultimately going to create the space where savvy marketers will be able to communicate their message. It is no longer going to be the glamour shot on a glossy stock that will sell the message. All it will take is listening to the community and trying to find who is looking for what you have or being able to create the supply for a demand.
I for one am happy to see the top down business approach with the suspicious minds lack of character being dropped off at the curb. It’s time to take out the trash and do a little spring-cleaning.
NOTE-This was originaly written for the following:
September 17, 2005Philadelphia University - Digital Design
MD23: Theories of Electronic Communications II
Instructor - Sean Carton
Posted by Dane Troup at January 16, 2006 05:49 PM