Traditionally marketing has been an instant gratification, billion dollar business, reserved for only a select few. I’m a huge fan of the show Mad Men which perfectly depicts the beginning of an era and glorifies the hay days of the ad industry in spite of its contradictions with modern-day political correctness.
Social media is drastically changing the world of marketing in ways that other technologies, like radio and television were unable to in the past. It’s leveled the playing field for individuals, while leaving corporations in a sort of no man’s land.
In my last consulting position part of my role was consulting chief marketing officers (CMOs) of Fortune 500 companies. Of course, ad agencies were part of the plan, but the central question was always sustaining a direct connection with customers.
It seems the CMO’s have begun to solve this problem using social media.
As evidence, I went to a Twitter conference over the summer and attended a panel that featured a representative from Starbucks, his only job was to Tweet and respond to Tweets all day. Whole Food’s Twitter rep made sure all store managers set up Twitter accounts and connected with customers regularly in their area, rewarding those with the most followers. This is a good start.
Persevere.
I have a market research petri dish in my house in the form of my 10 and 12 your old sons. They tend toward individually produced content. Like Natalie on YouTube and her wacky CommunityChannel videos. She’s really sarcastic and better than any sitcom show I’ve watched.
My son’s trusted brands are people who have gained online stardom from millions of views on YouTube. This gives these YouTube people huge brands value with the youth generation.
I wonder if the “Mad Men” of today are considering this in their plans? I know I am!
