Now, some time after The Cluetrain Manifesto came out with “Markets are conversations”, conversation is in danger of being an overused word. Mary Goodyear is an astonishing thinker, and she said nearly ten years ago that marketing evolution is the increasingly sophisticated dialogue between the marketer and the consumer. Yet examples of mass brands holding a good conversation is less abundant than mass monologue.
Cluetrainplus10 is a celebration of the Cluetrain Manifesto 10 years on. Bloggers have been invited to write about one of the 95 Cluetrain theses. From Dan Wilson;
“The internet should make businesses and corporations more open, more communicative and transparent. But in the 10 years of the Cluetrain Manifesto we haven’t seen a great transformation. Sure, we have business blogs opening the lid, Twitter gives us insight into what businesses are doing, but the vast majority of this communication is broadcast. Marketing messages, positive spin and highly-controlled outward bound marketing are the disappointing norm. There are some wonderful examples of where the conversation is real. But play? We’re no closer to play than ten years ago.”
n 2007, editors, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan challenged bloggers around the world to contribute one page — 400 words — on the topic of “conversation”. The resulting book, The Age of Conversation and in 2008 The Age of Conversation 2. Richard Huntington in his blog adliterate writes in defence of brand monologue. “The word monologue has acquired a rather pejorative meaning in the world of marketing. Monologue, where the brand addresses an audience and puts forward its point of view (as happens in traditional one to many advertising), is seen to be out of step with the idea that markets are conversations and depend on a dialogue of equals between brands and customers. More than that, brand monologues are assumed to narcissistic, self referential, and disrespectful of empowered consumers that don’t have to or want to take that kind of shit from anyone least of all businesses. Well I want to make a stand for brand monologues – right here and right now. Indeed I am going to insist that great dialogues start with a passionate monologue.”
In the following slide deck, David Alston refers to 10 conversations to watch out for in social media (which include the complaint, the compliment, the problem, the question etc).
What about Twitter and conversations? Can or should brands have conversations with consumers via Twitter. Conversation at brandchannel on this topic shows different viewpoints including:
“We feel that Twitter is essential to helping companies today provide a near real time conversation with their customers. We built Tweetbots (http://tweetbots.com/) and we are also involved in a number of projects that heavily leverage Twitter.To be honest, It’s hard for us to imagine starting something, and not registering the domain name as well as the name on Twitter. ”
Adam Stacoviak, Web Developer, Handcrafted, LLC - March 30, 2009
…”It means nothing to brands. In inserting a brand into my social networking is invasive, abusive and frankly spam. If I wanted to buy an item once, why do i need to hear about it every day? Explain to me why I care to “follow” a soft drink.. explain to me why it matters what’s on the scripted mind of a pro blogger hired by the manufacturers of over priced razors? Kill your idols and hold corporate america responsible for it’s attempt to tell you what to do and influence your decisions.. @run_rabbit_run”
- March 30, 2009
Jye Smith has a post about what inspires conversation
But qualitative researchers now face some a similar challenge. Running a successful community is not just asking a barrage of questions, but being able to start conversations (more in the style of a salon than a focus group). Plugged In talk about;
“One of the hardest things for me to learn initially was the idea of letting go of control of the conversation. As moderators we want to “ask, ask, ask,” but in communities it is really important to listen to the community and circle back on topics of interest. If there is a particularly interesting comment or user generated discussion, incorporating it into a future activity (and acknowledging the member that posted) reinforces the fact that you are listening to what the members are saying. Also, this approach is much more effective for “probes” and follow-up questions. Creating a new discussion and engaging the community as a whole is oftentimes more effective than trying to follow up inline with individual members, plus it opens up the opportunity to hear several opinions rather than one individual opinion. ”
And on the topic of jobs, Charlene Li has uploaded a deck on conversation in social media
Updated: a paper on Beware the Age of Conversation - Embrace the Age of Osmosis The IPA Excellence Diploma -Summary It’s said we’re entering an Age of Conversation where people have active dialogues with brands. This desire to ‘engage more’ is symptomatic of the industry’s response to consumers not listening. We’re hopeless optimists. The vast majority of brands simply aren’t that important to people.
And tweet from @gapingvoid:”Note to Armchair Quarterbacks: Yes, “Markets Are Conversations”. But Markets are not time-wasting Conversations, either.”
You are right. The last thing I want to hear from a brand is the same old line they blast out from head office. But something interesting from someone who works for a brand/product that I use? Now, that could be interesting.
Unfortunately, this also means realigning our business processes and re-casting our understanding of “corporate communications”. And that is a much larger challenge.