The further ahead you look - the faster you go | davidpcushman AT gmail.com | These are my views and my views only.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Why traditional advertising won't work in social networks - and what will
Finally got round to doing a slidedeck which I hope graphically demonstrates why traditional ad models are bound to fail in social networks. It also illustrates the ways messages ought to be released into the wild if you expect them to survive (succeed) in a group-forming environment. Of course, we don't just form groups in the digital world, but the internet is a more rapidly enabling environment on a global scale than most physical ones. But the two are coming together.
Legendary 'visuals' dude Dave Armano tweeted of this slideshow: Armano @davidcushman nice visuals. Like the happy faces. Social networks are made of shiny happy people (holding hands)... Who said Americans couldn't do irony?
Thanks very much Andrew. Only wish you could adapt it yourself, then you'd be more likely to pass it on among your own group of purpose... still I guess you can frame it as you wish with text and context.
Interesting view on how like minded individuals will want to communicate/modify messages. So, if you're a brand or advertiser and are seeing your audience moving online how do you address these people/groups in meaningful and relevant way.
well Bickers - you need to code yourself in to The Communication Ideal (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=1101) covering The Rules of Engagement, The Advocacy Dial and The Abolition of Toleration...amongst other theories ;)
Bickers, it might sound odd, but it may be less about targeting and more about broadcasting. I posted some thoughts re that here: http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2008/06/to-advertisers-stop-targeting-start.html
OK, read JMac's and David's links and I can see where they're coming from. If you support a football club you're a member of a tribe/community and will tend to buy into/support/listen to whatever the 'brand' and it members/partners recommend. If you meet a group of new people and find out one of them supports the same club as you they immediately achieve a trusted status you might not even grant a long time friend. Do you believe social networks can generate the same type of dynamic? Is there a case study/example of a brand that has successfully 'broadcast' in the way you descibe or is this still only a theory among lateral thinkers?
Good question Bickers. Simplest answer - any successful widget strategy - ones which can be changed to suit (for a personal outcome). Many widget makers are currently 'leveraging the social graph' in exactly this way. If you need some example companies take a look at my coverage of widgetwebexpo around middle of the month?
This is a very good representation of what is happening. People are in groups, and as you point out, what makes it the situation even more complex is that some are formalized (Facebook, LinkeIn, Ning groups, etc...) and some are not. So each group of people on your slides represents one lens for a given user, based on areas of interest. The challenge now for marketers is to figure out where the conversations happen. It is in Google groups? Blogs? Facebook? or somewhere else to be defined. I personnally believe that blogs are a good place to look for content and people, and with widgets now it becomes much easier for me as a user to centralize all conversations into my own blog. My posts on one side, plus comments, and then widgets bringing in other conversations I am having other places. So for advertisers I would think that blogs is the place to go.
Thanks for the kind words m! Interesting thought. I wouldn't limit myself to blogs alone... the key thing is to release the message/service and allow users to take it with them on THEIR journey. You're right to ask where to start that journey. The issue is we're unlikely to know for each case so it's wiser to hand control of the distribution and content to the people best placed to share it and for whom, actually most is at stake. If I pass on something to you which you don't think is cool, you think less of me as a result. I'm a human so that matters to me. It doesn't matter to an ad message.
You are right that I should have qualified my comment better: my own lens is business, so blogs are a good place to go, where the experts hang out, but it is true that if you are talking consumers, they could be anywhere, and blogs are just one platform among many others. An interesting challenge...
The rate of change is so rapid it's difficult for one person to keep up to speed. Let's pool our thoughts, share our reactions and, who knows, even reach some shared conclusions worth arriving at?
David, this is brilliant and explains the concepts well.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Andrew. Only wish you could adapt it yourself, then you'd be more likely to pass it on among your own group of purpose... still I guess you can frame it as you wish with text and context.
ReplyDeletenice one dave - blogged it here: http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=1135
ReplyDeleteIts very timely that I blogged my re-think piece (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=1129)as it ties up nicely!
What a team ;)
Nice one dude. See you Thursday at EatnTweet!
ReplyDeleteInteresting view on how like minded individuals will want to communicate/modify messages.
ReplyDeleteSo, if you're a brand or advertiser and are seeing your audience moving online how do you address these people/groups in meaningful and relevant way.
well Bickers - you need to code yourself in to The Communication Ideal (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=1101) covering The Rules of Engagement, The Advocacy Dial and The Abolition of Toleration...amongst other theories ;)
ReplyDeleteBickers, it might sound odd, but it may be less about targeting and more about broadcasting. I posted some thoughts re that here:
ReplyDeletehttp://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2008/06/to-advertisers-stop-targeting-start.html
OK, read JMac's and David's links and I can see where they're coming from.
ReplyDeleteIf you support a football club you're a member of a tribe/community and will tend to buy into/support/listen to whatever the 'brand' and it members/partners recommend. If you meet a group of new people and find out one of them supports the same club as you they immediately achieve a trusted status you might not even grant a long time friend. Do you believe social networks can generate the same type of dynamic?
Is there a case study/example of a brand that has successfully 'broadcast' in the way you descibe or is this still only a theory among lateral thinkers?
Good question Bickers. Simplest answer - any successful widget strategy - ones which can be changed to suit (for a personal outcome).
ReplyDeleteMany widget makers are currently 'leveraging the social graph' in exactly this way.
If you need some example companies take a look at my coverage of widgetwebexpo around middle of the month?
This is a very good representation of what is happening.
ReplyDeletePeople are in groups, and as you point out, what makes it the situation even more complex is that some are formalized (Facebook, LinkeIn, Ning groups, etc...) and some are not.
So each group of people on your slides represents one lens for a given user, based on areas of interest.
The challenge now for marketers is to figure out where the conversations happen. It is in Google groups? Blogs? Facebook? or somewhere else to be defined.
I personnally believe that blogs are a good place to look for content and people, and with widgets now it becomes much easier for me as a user to centralize all conversations into my own blog. My posts on one side, plus comments, and then widgets bringing in other conversations I am having other places. So for advertisers I would think that blogs is the place to go.
Thanks for the kind words m! Interesting thought.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't limit myself to blogs alone... the key thing is to release the message/service and allow users to take it with them on THEIR journey. You're right to ask where to start that journey. The issue is we're unlikely to know for each case so it's wiser to hand control of the distribution and content to the people best placed to share it and for whom, actually most is at stake. If I pass on something to you which you don't think is cool, you think less of me as a result. I'm a human so that matters to me. It doesn't matter to an ad message.
You are right that I should have qualified my comment better: my own lens is business, so blogs are a good place to go, where the experts hang out, but it is true that if you are talking consumers, they could be anywhere, and blogs are just one platform among many others. An interesting challenge...
ReplyDelete[...]resource[...]
ReplyDelete