Conversational marketing and the 'age of authenticity'
Imagine, for a moment, a world without the Geico gecko or the Mac vs. Microsoft guys. A world where advertising no longer exists, at least not as we now know it. Can you? Neither can I, but a post from Mediapost blogger Dave Morgan got me thinking about it.
"Is the age of the brand slogan and advertising ending, about to be displaced by the 'age of authenticity' and conversational marketing?," Morgan asks.
Morgan, himself, suggests that notion is extreme and I have to agree. Yet, in an age of conversational media and the fact that most people trust "other people like me," branding as we've typically conceived it has changed.
The strength of a brand is now commensurate with the amount of conversation about it. As Morgan puts it, "[B]rands now live and die by how they perform for their customers, because the Internet permits those customers service stories to be amplified and shared. The power of those experiences is already starting to eclipse anything that marketers can do with advertising."
To that I reply, "Yippee!"
As worthy of quoting as Morgan's post is, even better is what I read in some of the comments, like this one...
"New online & interactive platforms have given marketers the best opportunities that we’ve ever had to prove how good we really are. Instead of hiding behind big advertising budgets (or bemoaning the fact that we don’t have one), we now have the chance to directly engage with consumers & prove why they should buy from us instead of the next suburban stall-holder.
"Yes, we’re now selling in markets that go beyond polished positioning statements, marketing plans & coiffured models. It’s bare knucks stuff where only the strongest, smartest & most empathetic will thrive."
And this one...
"In a nutshell: its simpler and more cost effective to just BE a great Brand, i.e. Accountable, Congruent, Integrity. from the start, if you study all the great brands, great = there is no other."
That's one reason I'm so proud of Bizzuka, the Web content management company I serve as Internet marketing director. Integrity, accountability and a genuine desire to serve our clients well is at the very heart of what we do.
Having been with the company less than a year, I can tell you, from the time I first walked in the doors until today, an aura of excellence pervades Bizzuka's culture. (A condition I owe to the founders, John Munsell and Lonnie Rouse. They, quite simply, would not have it any other way.)
For example, as I write this I'm sitting in my office listening to the chatter from other offices down the hall. What's I'm hearing are the sounds of people passionate about their jobs, working hand-in-glove with clients to help them build a better online presence. (If you think I've drank the Bizzuka kool-aid, well, I have.)
That's why, from a marketing standpoint, we're trending away from slick advertising slogans and marketing messages. Frankly, we do very little actual advertising any longer.
If we can attain and even surpass the high bar of excellence that's been set both in terms of our products and service, we believe our customers will do our advertising for us. And why not. As blogger Morgan puts it,"I certainly think that the most important brand slogans in the future will be those uttered by marketers’ customers, not those that marketers broadcast at them."
What do you think? Is the "age of advertising" being replaced by an "age of authenticity?" Will you miss the little gecko if and when he goes?
Ning: Paul Chaney
StumbleUpon: pchaney
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