I had a very interesting question, across the table from {grow} community member John Bethune:
In the minds of most people were once diametrically opposed to journalism and marketing. That changed in the era of social media?
Good question! And actually, I think, that these fields of the social network has brought together in a variety of surprising ways.
The ideal of journalism is the search for truth. Marketing is the search for the product "the truth". I mean, that the best traders are on the way to know how their company for goods and services existing in the hearts and minds of their customers. Their task is to express the right of consumers to the best of their abilities. So in this way, discipline are unexpectedly similar, even if the final product is completely different!
But the social web has created a significant shift for both scopes. What it means to be a journalist today? Through the blogs and technology as the smartphone video cameras journalism to democratize. Anyone may report, anyone can publish. Jeff Jarvis, City University of New York recently defined a reporter today, just someone who can say, "I was there and he wasn't."
The democratization of marketing
To a large extent, the marketing has been democratized, too. Remember last year when gap has changed its logo and was such a fuss? I felt empathy for the company, therefore, that they are likely to be good traders, who as a traditional protocol – work with the designer, testing, obtain feedback, and roll. This system worked for decades, and the change of the logo is not easy or flippant decision for the company to make a product to consumers. I'm sure ... do their duties, or at least thought.
But a few vocal people thought that the new logo was stupid (perhaps the people who were not customers!). Through Twitter and Facebook have created anti-logo of the movement. and suddenly it was embarrassing mem. You can imagine the gap marketing resume into this one morning and thought "... wait, what?"
So something as important as the adjustment of the image may not be in the hands of traders, no more. The Gap marketing strategy was essentially the crowd sourced! Journalism seems to have been also democratize marketing.
The energy content
Content production has also been the output of the process of economic, usually in the form of advertising. But now the content is at the focus of many of the strategies of the company as the struggle to attract attention on a crowded social network. School of journalism are full of new applicants. Why? Because the content is big business now, and new media channels have insatiable need for. Companies need a narrator, as well as marketing graduates.
I recently worked with the President of one of my B2B customers to blog and a series of how-to videos to demonstrate their new robotic technology. I'm sure five years ago that he would have thought that would have been in the publishing business!
So this idea of the content and stories is another way that journalism and marketing through together. For both the content that we are moving through the social network is a success and power.
True as a strategy
I think that the expectations of the "truth" and transparency is another way the social network has brought journalism and marketing together. For a brand to have resilience and successful it can't shoot right around now. Today, there is a million watch dogs there and some of them can sniff out a fake.
A few weeks ago, I worked with some of the vendors for the hotel chain and we were talking about negative hotel reviews. "We don't mind," they told me "It makes us more real."
Interesting. True as a marketing strategy.
My idea is a few years ago, which is not necessarily what would be their reaction. In marketing, the truth is that the new black.
Perhaps, journalism and marketing come closer than we thought? What do you mean?
Note: John Bethune the conversation with me can be found here: "the content is force: questions and answers with Mark w. Schaefer."