+ Rance Crain at Adage.com writes a blurb on "The Growing Impact of Consumers' Web Publishing." Funny how this "news" stuff comes around in spurts. Here's a bit from the article:
What's clear is that advertising no longer has the luxury of being a one-way monologue. Consumers, much like voters, have the ability to not only absorb advertiser messages, but to change other consumers' minds about the message content and the product itself.I'm fasinated by this. Before weblogs/blogs/etc, this same sort of thing happened, yet it was only via word of mouth- friends talking to friends, co-workers gabbering away by the watercooler, etc. Now because of the fact that anyone, anywhere can access this information (as long as they have a computer and internet access), it is creating a platform where information about products and companies is global. Consumers from Japan can find out about a UK company trying to sell their product - which in a way does break down the regionalization of marketing those products- allowing for advertiser messages to be absorbed in a broader sense. This also leads to marketers being more accountable because of the way in which people are now delving more into the background of messages they are being fed, like the iPod battery issue discussed in the article. Making companies more accountable for their products is not a bad thing. Consumers speaking out and not being drones to what is fed to them are key points in keeping companies on their toes. Plus, what better way to improve or sustain your brand/company image with the public than to listen to what your consumers have to say and actively act upon it.
So marketers must now be ready to change their communications based on consumers' own feedback. Political ads have long adapted to what their polls show voters are most concerned about, and now consumers have the same opportunity -- only consumers, through their blogs, are polling themselves.
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