Power to the People

The theme of the conference is the “Age of Engagement.” The tune of Age of Aquarius rings in my head. I am thinking ‘is this just another term?’ I suppose this means mass media is dead; long live new media. Smart companies are actively pursuing interaction with customers.

Home Depot has used this strategy successfully, according to its EVP Merchandising John Costello. He told the keynote audience that a brand will be judged by how it engages. Technology in itself is not enough. Costello made the point that technology will not replace these methods but rather converge with them.

The customer has more information than ever before, yada yada yada. I actually heard the phrase “people power.” Costello described the consumer as the programmer of his own media network. The challenge for the advertiser is to use the right technology with the right message. In conjunction the advertiser becomes closer to the marketer in the demand for accountability.

What I found most interesting was the combination of offline events and an online micro-site Home Depot used to motivate its woman customers to participate in workshops. They let the consumer drive what they want to learn about. But the conversation is still brand-to-consumer online. I would wonder what would happen if the women participating in the workshops were allowed to help each other and interact as a community. Could the experience of the workshop be extended in spirit online?

Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker had a lot of data to present, and her slides will be available at the AD:TECH site.  She seems most enamored with companies that have the ability to get the right the content to the right person at the right time. She used the example of a video of a recent miraculous Tiger Woods golf shot. She says people would pay to watch the shot, but that it is not easy to search. The ability for the consumer to generate content for others with similar interest is where she would like things to go. This idea is supported by the data, but it’s up to the advertising industry to embrace it.