Good ideas, though I can't say I agree fully with 18.

You have to care where content appears, otherwise you may miss the people you are targeting. The balances of each form of media has to be taken into account. But I certainly believe there should be no predisposition toward one form of media, each content piece should be positioned on its own merits.

22 is very true. The 'informed opinion' is going to become far more important in planning and creating good ad content; as opposed to "statistics show...".

Makes a lot of sense to me Richard - certainly a long way past the unhelpful (and unintelligent) them and us stance.

The social media gurus bang on about the stupidity of advertising but really it is a criticism of media

+

Creative agencies must free themselves from media - they are content creation companies

= dozens of "new marketing" articles neatly summed up in a succint way.

Great post Richard!

Hello Richard

I like your communication and social media idea.

But isn't it the content that is communicative or social, rather than the media?

TV content can be one way communication (ad, programme, news bulletin) or more conversational (studio debate, phone-in, a Swapshop kinda thing).

Likewise, the web can either be a one way push of controlled content (like most corporate websites) or a social, connected, 2.0 sort of dooda.

Love the design btw.

"The social media gurus bang on about the stupidity of advertising but really it is a criticism of media".

This is true, but a weak truth i would say. What the social media gurus are saying is that today, consumers are defining brands, even redefining them. And because consumers experience brands multi-dimensionally these days, it’s no longer good enough to produce a wonderful TV commercial or anything else for that matter — extolling the virtues of a brand if the brands claims do not match up to the actual brand experience because especially in this age of fast networked communications, consumers themselves will share good and bad experiences with their friends without fear.

The solution? as you've said it - "Creative agencies must free themselves from media - they are content creation companies" and they need to approach advertising in the same way content developers approach programming: you need audiences to want to watch. That is, there is a need for great compelling creativity that generates audience interest and response (did i hear engagement???.

Indeed fantastic conferennce: (http://nomansblog.typepad.com/no_mans_blog/2006/06/content_20.html)

keep up the good work,

Asi.

'...weak truth'? True or not, surely?

However I agree with the point you're making, and the same point can be made for a communication idea can it not? If brands are multichannel entities (and they are) then an idea is wasted if it only gets to work in one channel.

Narrow-minded nag aside have to say that the coverage of the conference and your own -short but sweet- presso is a decent step ahead, and so much better than the smug 'your/our time has come' debate that we've had thus far (not on here of course).

People have a taste for the authentic - we want to move closer to the truth, out of the perceived fake into the genuine real i.e. front room to back room e.g. open kitchen in a restaurant.

Consumer content is another element of this - a way of getting closer to the brand and differentiating our experiences from someone else. That is we create our own experience. We create our own brand offer.

So I guess, we have a whole generation of unsatisfied consumers who are not getting turned on by brand experiences.

As for media, we have to be media neutral or 'media agnostic' because its the only way we feel comfortable with the unknown and the reality that communication media and social media are becoming the same.

We gave consumers choice - they are now flexing their muscles.

Surely the next step is the brand becoming the channel and its users defining / creating the transaction?