The power (and limitations) of digital

Congratulations to all the bloggers who contributed to Age of Conversation, a book about the collaborative, connected, online world we live in (written through connected online collaboration).

Servant of Chaos was one of the contributors, and this post has some great quotes on the subject from Brand Autopsy's John Moore.

The Age of Conversation project did get me thinking however about the fact that so much conversation in the blogosphere is essentially about the blogosphere and about the digital world that surrounds it. That's natural, but it does risk skewing new thinking about marketing and communications towards digital solutions.

My favourite quote from the Servant of Chaos post above is from Shama Hyder..."If you wouldn't do it offline, don't do it online. Would you ever go up to a stranger and ask them to be your friend or introduce you to their buddies? I didn't think so. Don't do it online either."

It's a great point, and it reminds us that online strategies should always be part of wider real-world strategies and wider real-world thinking. Digital thinking in isolation can be very dangerous for brands. And even those of us who are personally engaged by and passionate about digital should ensure that we let our clients know that.

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

Thanks Matt ... one of the themes that comes through in the majority of the chapters is that there is a need to see any social media project as being part of a wider consumer engagement strategy.

Interestingly, there is an increasing sense that digital interactions are driving real-world connections (rather than the other way around).

FYI The Age of Conversation not only captures the thinking of 237 authors on the subject of new marketing, all the proceeds are donated to charity. Hope you enjoy the book!

[matt jones]

Good point about the inter-connectedness between online and offline.

Increasingly, I think the most important distinction is between real experiences and connections (which happen as much online as offline) and fake ones (of which there are plenty in the real world).