A recent New York Times article discusses the radical changes going on in the marketing world around branding:
“…the branding game has changed radically, largely because of the myriad choices the Internet provides consumers and because of the economic influence of widespread Web pontificating, known as the blogosphere, which barely existed as a popular force until about four years ago.”
It describes the previous generation of marketers as:
“…informed and often cranky voices of the knowledge age.”
I can’t help but think of the differences between the information age and our current interaction age, without applying these metaphors to publishing and media. When the article mentions how marketers are catching up, it says:
“We are fundamentally changing the way marketing and market research will be done in the future. We’re providing guidance to marketing decisions that was never possible.”
Overall, they say the internet “…forces companies to work smarter and listen harder.”