After posting my piece on Consumer 2.0, I received a Tweet from one of my friends on Twitter.
@BrandCentral – Consumers need to make companies stop taking us for granted. We are your source of income – respect us, dangnabbit!
Not only did I find the Tweet to be interesting because I hadn’t seen “dangnabbit” spelled out in a while, but the sentiment of the post was indicative of a larger problem I see brewing for marketers in the future. ”Engagement” is a big word circulating through the marketing universe at this time, but in reality, engagement requires two-way interactions between parties. Real interaction is built on a foundation of mutual respect.
And according to my informal survey of one and a just-released study of the nation’s political climate conducted by BIGresearch, Americans are feeling a little disrespected on all levels.
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by Mike Bawden
President & CEO; Brand Central Station
These are indeed interesting times in which we all live. The pace of life has picked up so dramatically in the last ten years, I question our society’s combined ability to adapt without some kind of major cultural meltdown occuring during the process. But still, I have faith.
With rapid change comes great opportunity, as well as terrible risk.
From society as a whole, there comes a desperate cry for sanity and creativity. For compassion and stewardship. For accountability and self-discipline.
As marketers, I think we all owe it to our customers, clients, communities, employees and partners to do the best we can with what we have. To make a positive difference in the world. And to encourage everyone – whether they’re our kids or our customers – to be smart and discriminating consumers of everything we’re told to believe.
In the past fifteen years, the Internet has evolved from a loose connection of crude email servers into an interactive, social network that connects us globally. For the most part, we’ve recognized that and call it Web 2.0.
Well folks, maybe it’s time we come up with Customer 2.0. They need to be better informed and capable of handling the ever-increasing flow of information, images and noise that comes their way.
As marketers, it’s our responsibility.
Tags: consumer 2.0, consumer relationships, Culture, Informed Decision Making, Leadership, Market Research, Marketing, media consumption, Social Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0
