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RSSBlogs, boards, buzz and, well, more buzz! Since my job is at the center of measuring all this stuff, I get to hear how a lot of marketers and agencies are aligning around this emerging area we call consumer-generated media (CGM). And that begs the question: Who will own this space?
Truthfully, everyone will own it, especially consumers. But in the marketing and agency world, where there's focused effort to build competencies to leverage CGM on behalf of brands, the cards are stacked unevenly for different marketing disciplines. Some are stepping up to the plate, while others are lagging. Some are progressing, while others are stuck. So who's who and where do they stand?
Let's start with the public-relations people. They were the first to fully understand and embrace the potential impact of CGM, which typically is uncontrolled and must be earned, much like the news media. But with few exceptions, public relations people have yet to push the needle in CGM beyond their core competency of media relations and associated budgets. But the opportunities around CGM are so much bigger. On the plus side, public relations agencies don't have much to lose, because CGM is additive for them. But because CGM is potentially more disruptive and erosive to other marketing disciplines, I can promise all the public relations people that the pressure for others to build competency is quickly dialing up. Competition is on the way.
So how about the traditional full-service advertising agencies, the old bedrock of Madison Avenue? Don't they bring unique talents of insight, creativity and big ideas? Sure. But like the PR agencies, there are a few progressive ones, which have invested substantially and created value for their clients. But for the most part, they are lagging. Perhaps it's because CGM still seems so trivial and miniscule relative to those big television budgets? Why bother?
Next there are the big media shops. To be sure, many of these guys are making substantial investment in tapping into buzz to understand consumer decision processes and the way that word of mouth weaves into other media dimensions. It is perhaps the channel-agnostic investment approach that gives media people an edge in leveraging CGM. They have yet to really step up to the plate, but I'm betting we'll see more action as CGM metrics, standards and best practices evolve.
Then there are the savvy direct marketers and interactive shops. Relatively speaking, these guys have been walking the talk within the agency world. They've been heaviest among the agencies in investing in research, planning and execution, and connecting to larger brand programs, including with other marketing partners and agencies. Of course, these folks have the digital and database savvy required for larger scale programs, and are nimble to navigate the fast-moving and sometimes volatile nature of CGM. They're also advantaged by the continued flood of marketing dollars online.
We also must not forget the small but fast-growing genre of specialty word-of-mouth shops. Often independent but steadily being acquired by larger agencies, these guys often have the advantage of being solely focused on alternative marketing platforms, including CGM. It's in their blood. Even many social media sites begin to fit in this bucket, as they devise programs to sell directly to marketers. Money and attention is pouring into their space, and most are benefiting.
Finally, there are the client-side marketers themselves. Barbara Bacci Mirque, executive vice president of kthe Association of National Advertisers, recently observed that "more and more advertisers are leading their agencies into new media, not the other way around," and that "clients are the ones who are personally and professionally experimenting with new media forms and directing their agencies to look into them." In the world of CGM, I can confirm this is true, and it happens across departments.
My prediction for 2007? Client-side marketers will continue to lead, though they'll soon begin to receive (and expect) a far higher level of support and expertise from the larger agency landscape. In fact, marketers will simply need more and more integrated support, to properly bake CGM into more complex marketing functions. Consequently, we'll see agencies make massive educational and experimental investments to develop their unique value proposition and credibility. Each discipline will jockey hard where there is ambiguity or overlap of ownership, but broad fluency will rise and CGM will become a more holistic overlay in the entire marketing mix.
What do you think? More important, where do you stand?
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However, that’s neither here nor there since no one will own this space. Control on the Internet is gone. Sooner or later even CGM will be a part of a bigger sum. We haven’t even moved into the media mashup revolution. Content of all kinds is going to get mixed together at wicked rates. That’s when the real fun will happen.
Also, could Internet sentiment analysis, buzz monitoring and online reputation management could very well emerge as the next significant search marketing era after search engine optimization (SEO) and ii) search engine marketing (SEM)?
-arnaud
Agencies and Advertisers are renting (or leasing) space and time on them -- especially in the areas that get the most attention. To call agencies and advertisers "owners" of CGM makes no more sense than calling them "owners" of any other media type -- they subsidize these sites, they don't own them.
I'm willing to bet that consumer generated media won't matter unless it starts to deal with the woes of the middle class. "How to turn your lawn into a food garden" kinds of videos. "How to save energy in the kitchen", etc. You get the point. With predictions of Peak Oil and global warming beginning to swing a baseball bat and knock the American dollar around, our debts to pay for our consumer lifestyles are being called in by China and the world.
Yes, advertising is in a flux. People are tuning out marketing messages and are taking back control of their minds through technology. Now it’s what YOU want, when YOU want it, courtesy of the Internet. As energy prices increase, businesses are seeing their costs rise, which makes them nervous. Add in that people are financing their purchases with the hopes they can keep their jobs or somehow pay off that credit card, and businesses sense something’s up.
Nevermind the fact that it’s not just the advertising messages that need to change, but the entire business and monetary system as it is presently tied to energy. Instead of ordering so many new cars for the lot, car dealers could be investing in biofuels facilities to ensure a fuel source for all the vroom vrooms they want to sell. And since margins are shrinking, businesses are desperate for ideas that go beyond the ‘old’ advertising. Instead of simple branding, they mostly want to beef their sales back up. That’s why with all the buzz buzz buzz about Web 2.0, they are throwing more money into the electronic advertising bucket. The questions is… what marketing lures work these days?
I don’t have the inclination to dissect video, e-mail, search engines and all the other variables involved, but here’s a friendly note to you “creative� punks playing pinball and ping-pong in those open air agency offices… you had better start getting hip to the shit, or you’ll be busy creatively begging for food rather than thinking of neato ways to sell twinkies in whatever media channel of choice.
For instance, a few weeks ago I presented to a bunch of businesses and ad agencies about the changing consumer and technology landscape. I told them about the way TV, Radio and Print are all morphing in the same chrysalis, and we are all emerging as a hybrid-butterfly into a harsher world than the previous incarnation had to deal with. When I brought up the idea of giving carbon credits with any car purchase, I would have thought they would be on it by now.
And so we as marketers MUST understand the change. Change in the value of money. Change in the way people buy things. Change in the way people are able to pay for things. Change, change, change. But the problem with moving forward and saving the planet comes in when people and institutions “cling� to the old model. Fighting tooth and nail to hang onto what was, rather than moving forward. The funny thing, in advertising anyway, is that it’s the old-schoolers that refuse to change, and it’s the young media folks that are leading it. Yet the old-schoolers have the money, and don’t want to hear that their business model is screwed. They don’t like hearing that growth may not be possible, and the writing is on the wall, the stall, and anywhere their eyeballs look. They are clinging like barnacles to denial or ignorance of reality.
And clinging to old business models means many, many businesses are in the deepest of doo. Especially when the first oil shocks hit.