AdAge's Rance Crain wrote in an editorial this week that most marketers haven't come to grips with just how much consumers are now calling the shots. Free registration is required to view the piece. Highlights...
(Consumers) have the ability to change the way ad messages are being received -- and even come out with their own counter-messages.
The blog creators are influencers -- people who pride themselves on knowing all kinds of arcane, insider details about the product, hence giving them credibility with consumers.What's clear is that advertising no longer has the luxury of being a one-way monologue. Consumers, much like voters, have the ability to not only absorb advertiser messages, but to change other consumers' minds about the message content and the product itself.
The journalistic bloggers bypass professional journalists. Will consumer blogs bypass professional advertising agencies? As I said, be careful what you wish for.
Every time there's a new article on blog marketing, I bet the all the ad agencies begin thinking about how they can "own" the blogosphere before the PR types and Internet consultants jump in. I smell a footrace coming.
