The real reason marketers should fear social media
6/3/2008 7:00:09 AM by Sean Duffy
LOSING CONTROL OF THE MESSAGE? — YOU CAN'T LOSE WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE
When I speak to marketing executives or read posts about traditional marketers embracing social media I notice a common theme: the fear of "losing control". I don't get it.
True, there was a time when the advertiser controlled the message and maybe even perceptions. Those were the days when communication was one-way. The only way to speak to millions at once was by spending millions in mass media like TV, radio and newspapers. The average consumer could disagree with the message but without an industrial-sized media budget their views remained localized and rarely gained critical mass. So I guess you could call that "control" (in hindsight, "tyranny" seems a more apt descriptor).
But get over it! Throughout most of North America and Europe that control was lost at least a decade ago when the internet became as mainstream as Britney Spears. And the rest of the world is catching up fast.
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