Eight years ago, I was finishing up my undergrad work and beginning to start my Masters program at RU. In addition to my normal coursework, my Master's program focus was on globalization and the impact that it has on the future of communications.
At that time, the web was only beginning to become a broadly utilized and credible communications tool. There were practically no studies on the web and very few resources that looked at it from a contextual comparison to previous communications mediums.
Now this article states that marketing (and to much to the same degree, communications) are in the hands of "the people." One might argue that its been the case for more than 10 years, but never to this degree. Expectations have certainly changed, and yet there are still a significant amount of the marketing and communications community that think that they can fully control "the message." Web-based communications tools and vehicles are no longer nice-to-haves...they are must haves, in all aspects of our lives.
So why have so few of our peers and colleagues truly embraced this as fact? And what are they truly doing to make themselves smarter and more strategically capable of maximizing the use of these tools?
This article talks about how integration is key, and I believe this to be true. We know that there is no "silver bullet" vehicle or means when it comes to communications/marketing or the way that people take in and seek out information. So we must become masters of these multiple channels, understanding each's strengths and weaknesses, in order to use them effectively.
But the one thing that has not changed is the Supply/Demand principle. People need information and those that can and will supply what they need will be looked to as credible and reliable. Couple that with a transparent, consistant and even engaging process, and now you build trust. And if you can sustain that trust over a period of time, here comes perceived value and equity.
Seems pretty simple doesn't it? Then why do we make it so hard sometimes?
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