I’m increasingly becoming a fan of Jeremiah Owyang.  One of his recent reports at Forrester is Online Communities: Build or Join? With the increasing desire by brands to “go social,” it seems many frequently rush to judgment and build their own community without recognizing there are many vibrant, enthusiastic communities already out there. By “joining” instead of “building” it can save them a TON of time and money. But for some brands it might not be build “or” join…it might be build “and” join.

I was shopping at one of my local home centers this weekend and was talking to an associate about a product.  For the first time ever I had an associate suggest I go online for research and specifically suggest I check the product’s reviews. 

And it reminded me that wow…how far things have come in such a relatively short time.  The web has been around about 14 years.  And in just the last few, things have gotten extraordinarily transparent.  I can read volumes about what shoppers and owners think of a product, and can find out how to do just about anything I’d want with it.  I can especially learn things the manufacturer probably should teach me, but doesn’t.

Speaking of empowered consumers and transparency, check out The Consumerist.  It’s an extraordinary concept, and a welcome presence on the webosphere.  As a consumer, I’ve found it helpful on more than one occasion, particularly when I needed to fight back (and sound off to a company’s upper management when I needed to help them see things my way.)

At Powered, we’ve been in the business of helping brands give consumers a great experience and spend their hard earned dollars smarter for years now. It’s nice to see we have some help.

Know of a site that helps consumers fight back?  Please share.

If you were a consumer (and you are) - would you like your marketing? Would you want it done to you? Your family and friends? I’ve been in marketing for nearly 17 years and have found myself (unfortunately) on more than one occasion hypocritically applying a double standard. “I don’t want that product’s marketing noise in my inbox/mailbox/living room…but hey, when it comes to my stuff I’m sure they want what I’ve got. I’ve just got to tell them. Often.” BTW, I’m doing my best to stop that. And I am DEFINITELY not alone in my remorse. See this. And this. And this.

The great thing is that “new” marketing (done right) makes it easier than ever to treat others as you’d like to be treated. And in many ways it’s easier to mea culpa for mistakes. Because we’re all going to make them. And we should, because we should be trying new things all the time – just like Einstein said.

So next time you’re about to launch that new campaign or initiative, remember the Golden Rule.

Cool piece over at BusinessWeek. They had their communications coach analyze his last presentation at Macworld. Certainly advice to take to heart. Two that struck me:

#6 Create visual slides: As a former management consultant, I find myself guilty of not doing this one from time to time. I love the look and impact of a single offbeat or unusual visual. Obviously this approach demands the presenter have a command of the material and can hold the audience with words. The most recent great example I found of this was a show called I Am The Media. Very easy on the eyes, and I especially like seeing Orson Welles/Charles Foster Kane depicted as “old media.”

#10 Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse: Couldn’t agree with this more…especially if you’re presenting material others wrote. And ESPECIALLY if you combining it with #6. Professional entertainers do it. We should too.

In this industry, we’re in the business of informing, educating AND giving people a show (which coincidentally was #7). Tough to combine all 3 all the time, but worth shooting for.

Good read over at BusinessWeek on the Year in Advertising.  Yes, it’s another piece on how its all changing for we marketers.  But I  clicked through on the slide show, and was especially intrigued by Samsung’s charging station and what they referred to as “branded utility.”

They state that “Taking advertising and making it into something useful may be a trend for the future.” I think that’s really true.  Your marketing has got to be meaningful to the new consumer and something they’ll want to seek out.  Which means it should probably be funny, entertaining and/or provide them utility so they will seek it out.  At Powered, we’ve adopted Next Century Media’s term the “Gratitude Effect” for this dynamic and found it creates a helluva ROI.

So, ask yourself…what % of your marketing spend is directed towards things that are providing utility to the consumer vs. marketing at them?

 Aflac’s spoof of the Rankin-Bass classic Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is stirring up some good conversation. But personally, it’s got me thinking about the role of TV spots in our new world as marketers.  “They” say people are watching fewer commercials.  And “they” say even if they’re watching the spot, it’s only because they can’t hit the fast forward button on the DVR.  And, “they” say, they’re definitely not paying attention while the spot is on because they’re listening to their ipod, talking on a cell phone, sending email, IMing, making a YouTube video, posting to a message board, writing their blog, reading someone else’s blog, subscribing to an RSS feed, listening to a podcast, playing a video game and updating their profiles on any number of social networking sites at the same time.  And who knows? They may be doing all that while having a good old fashioned human conversation with someone sitting by them in the same room.

Personally, I like the spot. But I also love the nostalgia of those old TV specials and memories of going through the Sears Wishbook to write down the GI Joes I wanted (and I’m talking 12” GI Joe here folks.) I also respect what Aflac has tried to do with its category, injecting a bit of fun and humor into the mix.  And based on how many duck spots I’ve seen so far, they must feel good about the results. 

But it got me thinking about new debate on an age old question - what’s the point of ads NOW? Obviously, it’s still to support brand strategy in an effective way, but should it be…

• Memorable, even if it is painful to watch? Think Head On.
• Funny like the Aflac spot or any number of Bud Light spots? (some of my recent favorites here and here)
• Just a bit louder than what you were watching so you look up?
• What we’re used to seeing since TV was invented – a little bit of everything, even if it just plain blends in?

For me, I think TV spots will have to be more like good, viral web video.  And that might be like the first 2 choices.  But what do you think?

There’s been a fair bit of conversation about MySpace’s Never Ending Friending report. I was at the IAB event where the study was unveiled. Interesting stuff to be sure, but also befuddling (I suspect) to marketers. For me I think it boils down to…

It’s not just about what your marketing and advertising says anymore. I think that’s a really, REALLY hard thing for most for us to accept. I mean many of us have spent most of our careers agonizing over marketing plans, creative briefs and agency meetings. It was so much easier in the old days when you had a decent shot at making people think about your brand in the way you wanted them too. But the increasingly collaborative nature of the internet is really changing that. Now your products - and the experiences people have with your brand - really almost need to stand alone.

Of course you still have your shot at getting your message out. Not everyone is that connected. Yet. But more and more it’s going to be about what you do and how it gets other people to say things. Brands almost might want to go so far as thinking of themselves as a consumer to consumer matchmaker. Learning what other people think is a powerful catalyst for choosing a brand or staying loyal to it.

And it seems to me one of the more important things a brand can do is take to heart what the word of mouth marketers have been saying for a while now – “be worth talking about.” In a cluttered and noisy world, that may seem daunting. But the good news is that when you consider applying that principle to not just your products, but your marketing as well the number of opportunities open up. And the other good news is there are more ways than ever to get that message to spread if it truly is worth talking about.

OK, so I’m not – nor do I want to be – Alan Greenspan. But when he coined the term “irrational exuberance” in that 1996 speech, it was forever burned in my brain.

And it recently got me thinking…are marketers experiencing irrational exuberance over video? Yes, I’ve seen the stats on broadband penetration. Yes, I’ve seen the numbers on how many users say they watch them. And yes, I’ve seen the numbers on the desirable actions and attitudes video watchers have about the brand associated with said video.

But it’s got me thinking – are marketers jumping in the video game (and I’m not talking about advergaming here) because they have concocted a well constructed, value to the consumer-based approach? Or are they following the herd? I’ve heard David Klein refer to this dynamic as “soccer ball marketing” at MarketingProfs.com. Maybe it applies here.

Video supply is tight. CPMs are up. And there is a LOT of crap out there that is nowhere near brand quality. So ask yourself: Are you doing video because it’s right for the consumer (and therefore right for your brand)? Or are you doing it because everyone else is? And please – be honest.