David Meerman Scott, Author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: New rules of PR says that any organization can publish their own information to meet their markets and their communities, all can create their own content to reach buyers directly. People concerned about getting paid for their content don't tune in to those who use content to get paid indirectly via other marketing models. Web is not about products and services, it's about reaching audiences with the content that they want. Colleen DeCourcey, Chief Experience Officer, JWT, a WPP Group agency, helped Ford Motor Company put together Ford Bold Moves, which documents the future of Ford. Includes Ford-produced video and user comments. Ford is putting themselves out there to let people talk about them on a Ford-generated Web site. Ben Edwards, Director, Media Communications at IBM, a journalist leading this effort for IBM to manage their 100-plus RSS feeds, as well as podcasts, etc. For example, hear a ten-minute podcast of IBM's chief IP lawyer. Putting "mockumentary" videos on the art of the sale. Comments on site are indicating that it's pretty cool with audiences. Chase Bank has a facebook community to promote their credit cards.

Colleen: Bold Moves was conceived in a flash, speaking with "tough love" execs about what was happening in the US auto sector, had been working with Daimler Chrysler, was larger than just a Ford issue, was about how Ford behaved in the middle of the issue. When we liked Ford the most was not when we were making footage, but when they were with them as people and seeing their earnest struggle. Embarked on brand journalism [COMMENT: this is a key trend, folks, start buzzing it]. Became kind of like an internal cognative therapy, finding bugs and joys in the system, angst, desire - kind of like reality television for corporations. Got auto journalists with different views, they would post to the blog. Consumer-generated media, today's efforts are very early days, signal-noise ratio needs to be worked on. Were going to stop it, public is hooked, they are going to continue.


Ben: liberal, permissive internal program, freely available, encouraging people to use tools to generate content for internal use. Ben looks for talent, voices that can carry the brand externally, make connections, do good things for the corporation. Blog directory of external IBM bloggers, they have interesting things to say, help people find them. Internal 3-4,000 bloggers, gather into blogging directory and market them. Professionals need to learn how to communicate as professional marketers, but the real shift is from low frequency, high quality, can't touch, to the publishing paradigm, low cost, high frequency, high touch. Need to get company to produce high-volume, low cost marketing messages, not what marketers are used to. This year they are structuring themselves not around channels but around content projects, need to "tell the story", inspiring stories, transformative stories. Start with story, then look at how to produce it, some may be slick in traditional channels, Web publishing, publish off-domain, looking at YouTube that will drive audiences back to domain content. Also call it branded content, if it's compelling you need to drive the audience back to you. Used to be mass media journalists, now IBM can tell IBM's story from IBM's point of view.


David: Colleen, what's a Chief Experience Officer? How is that different from other roles? Colleen: living object versus dead object, no offense to others. Experiences in brands are in motion all of the time, pick a target, call it "this thing," push it out. Work at the crossroads of semiotics and technology, what are you thinking and doing, more for less money, getting away from creating the sacred thing. David: What's the difference between being an editor at a traditional publication like the Economist versus a corporation? Ben: Economist has a "house view" and argues it entrenchantly, not that much difference at all, transition very easy and comfortable. Never pretended to be putting forth objective truth at Economist, works well in this environment versus newspaper saying "these are the facts."

David: Where's the potential mashup between this movement and publishers? Colleen: There are a lot of interesting things going on in publishing, media companies and agencies have a conversation, shared skills and objectives. They reach out to publishers for specialists and points of view. Also distribution is everything (?). They scope a collection, a curatization, create things out of that. Ben: Publishers want to attract and retain a community, that's their value, then sold that attention to marketers. Product placements, advertorials can destroy brands, need to remain independent. Form of advertising will change, but not the distinctions between who is saying what in an editorial framework. Corporate content will be fed through their properties, you can see clearly what's IBM content. They'll pay a lot for that context. [COMMENT: B2B publishers, are you listening?]

Colleen: Branded hubs can work, will contextualize things, nobody knows how to price or sell it to her, need to crack the model. Penton question: product companies used to sell product, then sold services with products, started to make more money. Looking at all of the information, certainly becoming publishers. Ben: Absolutely right. Much closer integration with the ad agencies, need to help them liberate ideas and help on production. Self-publishing, the economics of production may vary, will require a lot of integration, will find a lot of publishing on their side, not just on media side. Have to hit all the media, have to market ourselves more comprehensively. Rubbing shoulders with everyone's content is just a fact of life, outreach and connect to important people who write about them used to be PR function through media channels, now it's "external relations" at IBM to reach bloggers and other influencers.

David: Who is winning the race for marketing dollars five years out?
Colleen: Clients. "I've never seen such a direct client relationship with multiple vendors, more and more organizations are hiring ex-media people." [COMMENT: chasing the mammoth]. Clients are getting ad agencies to be more cost efficient in the process.
Ben: Increasingly a broader array of people, corporations are publishing increasingly. will grow the pie, but will be more competitive, more types of people fighting for their dollars.


This is THE trend to watch in media. It's not about the "book," folks, be it online or in print. It's about enabling conversations.