From marketers with love: the power

The most important point we are making with our study (or the one that is the underlying idea for it) is that because of web 2.0 the marketing scene will never be the same again, because of the shift of power from marketers to consumers (as content creators). The tricks marketers have learned to use in the past century or so, won’t just work in the new environment with its fragmented media and empowered consumers.

Related to this, Facebook announced its new, much anticipated ad strategy yesterday. In a nutshell it’s about eWOM inside the constraints of FB (although it has an impressive list of third-party collaborators). In the words of Zuckerberg:

“For the last hundred years media has been pushed out to people, but now marketers are going to be a part of the conversation.”

It’s always nice to know that a major web 2.0 player agrees with what your saying

I’m looking forward to see what the impact of this new feature will be. Up until now it has been those poorly-if-at-all-targeted banners, that you don’t even pay attention to. There lies a great potential with all the information available and the ever growing networks of friends.

Some brands have already changed their ways and many brands have noticed the what’s happening, but most of those are not yet truly practising what they preach. I found it very amusing to read a quote (Contagious special reports, june/2007)  from Tim Kopp, a VP of Coca-Cola Company’s global interactive marketing that said

“The model’s are still evolving but it doesn’t look like just slapping a banner ad in these spaces [social networking sites] is going to be the best way to go. It’s more about finding an interesting way to connect on a deeper emotional level.”

Not that there’s anything wrong in his point, it’s just that I’ve frequently spotted an ad for Coke Light in my FB profile page That’s not very deep or emotional.

But the models really are constantly evolving – it’s in the core of web 2.0 (“the perpetual beta”). Only time will tell how this new model will work for FB and it’s partners (and competitors). My guess is, it’ll be a success, and nobody will abandon FB for that…

Tags: consumers, conversation, eWOM, Facebook, marketers, Marketing, Web 2.0