That example from the proposal is so scary. Thanks for sharing…

It also has the unintended consequence of screwing it up for everyone else! When customers find out they’ve been duped, they’re less likely to trust future WOM or viral marketing.

Great post, Todd!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/03/eu_flogging_ban/

Hopefully this will be something that is a step towards keeping brands and marketers playing by the book.

Thanks for the link! The post is exactly as you say, and I agree completely with how you framed that corner of the issue.

For heaven’s sake, a lot of us in PR are blogging (etc.), and people know who we are– or could. Our relationships with our clients should not sully a good message, nor should it dress up a poor one. It helps if you believe in the message, of course .

Now I will go scrub my eyeballs after reading that “guerilla marketing” proposal in your post.

Perhaps the silver lining is that marketers are including social media in their proposals at all, even if they are getting it all wrong.

Also, more to the point, thanks for the thoughtful comments. This line in particular is brilliant: Social Media is a people place not a marketplace.

John – I didn’t see the PRN post. I am still against ghostblogging, though it may be inevitable. Sad to say.

Csalmonlee – I think it is ok, within reason, for a PR person to respond in blog comments on behalf of clients, AS LONG AS they clearly define who they are and their role: that way the community gets to decide how much weight to put behind their words (if any).

More often than not, I suggest that the PR person’s contribution ought to be along the lines of:

“Hi, my name is _________, I am a PR consultant to (Company). Just wanted you to know we’ve seen this post, and will be discussing it with our friends at (Company). Will be sure to let you know what comes of that, and/or hopefully I can get them to jump into the conversation themselves. Stay tuned!”

Doug Haslam at TechPRGems has a good post along these lines: http://topazpartners.blogspot.com/2007/10/should-pr-agency-rep-leave-blog.html

Thanks, all.

Background

You raise a wonderful topic – trust. You didn’t think it was going to be that heavy, but the fact is, that’s what we have here.

Technology is once again racing ahead of the rationale to apply it well.

This time, unlike the 90s, it cuts to our very core as humans the need to be recognized as individuals and to be part of a larger group. It also twists the knife into the Achilles heel of capitalism, which is competition and greed.

Points

1) Social media believes in transparency, honest discussion, and civility
2) Financial markets rewards growth and meeting prescribed expectations. It usually penalizes the straight-forward discussion of events
3) Media, as consumed by most Americans, benefits from conflict and in our sports oriented, entertainment dominated society there must be a victor and a loser. Also there must be a solution before the consumption of my next event.
4) Political system benefits accusers over the accused which caters to the media (see number 3)
5) Legal system has become an apparatus to paralyze innovation, and a source of revenue rather than a resort for justice
6) Companies reward plans and predictive behavior. They usually can’t handle an unknown or unpredictable.

All of these things run counter to the brilliance of social media. Because social media, absent the consultants, gurus, et al addresses the need in humans to be connected

At its essence, social media is a movement. It is a movement to repair the cynicism that has gripped our society. It is a medium that allows for the voices in the middle to speak as loudly as those on the extreme, It allows for the questions to be asked that are not intended to bait, deceive, or entrap, but to enlighten, educate, and advance the discussion.

Hey in the spirit of social media disclosure, I pay my mortgage and the salaries of employees by providing communications advice. But I have to say, we are not dealing with some new kind of printing technique for direct mail or even some technology platform upon which to put your marketing stuff.

We are dealing with the interaction and relationship of people. People who have sought each other out for a common purpose. This is a people place not a market place.

Our competitive monetizing society wants answers now on how to use this technology to the advantage of its investors. Society is still trying to figure out how it can use it to address its desire to be connected.

Did you see the PR Newswire request for thoughts on why it is now okay to ghost blog? Are we going backwards or forwards?

I think the community and associations need to call out the agencies and people who participate in these sort of inappropriate behaviors.

@Mike

Regarding your point about what do they teach in schools. I think I would not worry too much about that. Though keeping students up to date is a goal to pursue. I’d worry more about experienced communications professional leading junior professionals down the wrong path. That’s why if something does blog up it’s important for all the community to comment on it. As the community can act as a counter weight to poor leadership.