In a recent guest speaking engagement at NYU, I highlighted how technology has led to the “Socialization of Marketing.”  The presentation has been posted to Slideshare for your viewing purposes.  The presentation looks at how the societal trends and shifts that have driven the profession to a much needed overhaul.

In John Gerzema’s and Ed Lebar’s recent book, “The Brand Bubble,”  a detailed account is give to how many of todays brands are experiencing a rapid decline in perceived value.  Simply stated, they are overvalued and consumers are falling out of love with them.  Based on Y&R’s BrandAsset Valuator study, the book cites that there is a growing divergence between brand valuation and brand speculation.  For the complete modern day Marketer, that means the campaign-based push marketing is dead.  Call it the customer conversation era, the day social connectivity, or which ever term de jour you prefer, the previous paradigm is over.  As the two authors state: “You can’t just go after them. You must attract them.” No longer is it about measuring reach and frequency or even marketing mix modeling for that matter. Success will be measured by motivating the right consumer behaviors that drive engagement and connection.

It used to be that our most sophisticated marketing archetypes, movies studios, were supported by massive amounts of media and marketing and a few key instore promos.  The paradign has changed and Heroes has led the way.  Tim Kring the creator of Heroes notes that the idea of broadcast will soon dimish (take note TV marketers).  What has emerged is the mashup term “transmedia” or better explained a serious expansion of the narrative.  Heroes goes beyond the network TV show to novels, games, broadband, DVD rental, Web sites, comics, online communities, blogs, mobile, etc.  The idea is the viewer, reader, consumer however characterized can follow the brand story across multiple platforms constantly exploring the ever expanding narrative.

Viral Expansion Loops.  Defined the success of Hotmail, Google, Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon.com, Paypal, LinkedIn, Flickr, the list goes on.  They all incorporate “virality” into the functionality of their core existence.  Viral Expansion Loops are consided the type of engineering alchemy that with executed properly, they are self replicating.  No wonder Web 2.0 seems to be the formula for success.  The likes of Myspace and Facebook were designed specifically to exploit the notion of viral loops; driven by user generated activity that drove consumer adoption into the stratosphere.  Viral expansion loops have long existed offline too…think Tupperware parties, multilevel marketing, chain letters, and even pyramid schemes.  The newest app to catch the viral loop craze – Widgets.  Now we are moving beyond viral loops to viral networks and double viral loops.  Is your brand capitalizing on viral expansion loops?

The ecosystem of customer experience is defined by micro-interactions with a given brand.  Insignificant in isolation; but combined they our emotional connection to the brand.  Kevin Roberts expresses the notion as Lovemarks.  What does Marketing’s discipline calling for now, “interaction designers“; those whose strategic imperative is crafting and nuturing the experience between brand and consumer.  Moving the brand forward will be measured by interaction where technology plus design plays a critical role.

Mr. Brymer, President of DDB offers telling insight into the discipline of marketing desperately needs to shift it’s thinking.  Conventional marketing wisdom had marketers speaking to consumer through mass communications as if it were a herd congregating in one place.  The herd no longer exists; what is left is the imprint of humans linked by digital social networks.  No longer does socialization take place in small groups (TV model); now they share info with 40 friends within a social network, 140 via blog feed, with significant pass along tendancies, noted Brymer.  Hence, the creating a swarm of communication.  The business challenge, today you are marketing to a swarm of people who gather and deposit information with the collective intelligence of an entire social network.  Gone are the days of relying on expert sources, mainstream media, and mass advertising.  Now, the swarm is fueled by friends, family, peers, and online communities.  The Marketing eco-system has now been completely redefined.

Much has been said about the significance of social media, its meaning, its origins, etc.  The bottomline is this, social media to the user, consumer, to me, to you is a mere reflection of the social interactions people have in the physical world.  It is the technology that enhances the ability for more efficiently communicate with other people.  The significance to marketers?  It’s observable and measurable like no other medium of communication.  Since social media allows the individual to create a digital representation of themselves, if offers unparalleled insight into consumer behaviors (hence the focus group or fish bowl concept as I refer to is obsolete).

John Battelle’s search blog included a post with one of the most meaningful excerpts on the signficance of brand association.  The premise is simple, the most coveted consumer brands (anything Italian, BMW, Coach, Ritz) love dealing with the most reputable media brands (Oprah, Wired, American Idol, and so forth).  Why because both represent a passionate community of followers who are deeply engaged in a shared interest.  Consumer brands are drawn to these properties because of association with quality, refinement, influence, and they know the mere association lends to a priceless connection with the consumer.

 So what happens when the next wave of great media brands are owned by consumer brands.  The digital spectrum has changed the paradigm; a brand’s equity doesn’t naturally transfer and carry the same social currency online.  P&G launched http://www.totalbeauty.com/ (not Glam or Cosmo mag).  Kanye West launched www.kanyetravel.com (not Orbitz).  Diesel Jeans launched an online dating community last year (you get the picture).  Consider this just the beginning.  Ogilvy’s Doug Scott pledged that “brands should own entertainment rather than rent it.” 

Considering that the average 60 second spot costs $1MM and has a shelf life of 6 to 9 months, why not invest that money and build a platform to cultivate a community of consumers.

Not advertisers, not advertisers, and not brand stewards (read Mediapost article).  Brands are now being defined by the conversations consumers are having about products and services.  That means in order to keep building brands, brands must go where the consumer is going.  comScore reported that every month 600 million people visit conversational media sites.  In this era of consumer-in-control movement that leaves very little comfort as brands must now venture into unchartered territory.  Nevertheless, the societal shifts necessitate that brands follow or perish.

In the world of networked communities, the power shift from the brand manager to the consumer is taking place.  It’s no longer about product attributes on package labeling; it’s about consumer reviews and opinions.  Here’s the excerpt from iMedia.

Jeffrey F. Rayport gives the iMedia Summit keynote presentation