While the social web is awash in content I’m finding timely insights from older work, especially from books. I’m carving more time out to regularly read again partly due to the realization that yes, Google (and other axes of info evil…Twitter, Facebook and RSS delivered through the iphone) were making me stupid. Not necessarily the content, the services or the device. They’re all undoubtedly remarkable info advances. The evil for me is the always-on part. The constant flow information, too much of it unimportant. The not hitting the pause or reset switch. So my nightstand and Kindle are again piled up with good stuff, including The Diffusion of Innovation, The Chaos Scenario, and Then There’s This. Not to mention other fictional text and a must-read if you’re into fitness, Born to Run.

My favorite right now is The Book of Gossage, a collection of essays from the late great agency provacateur. His thoughts on the communications business, creativity and culture are as relevant today as they were when written in 1986, framed around the question, “Is Advertising Worth Saving?” One of the many prescient take-aways:

“Advertising is by nature a very primitive art form. By like any form, it requires superlative talent, if results are to be superlative. The upshot is, that a large talent will have to settle for a small, if precise, outlet. It’s like making Steinways which will be used for playing Chopsticks.”

The reality is advertising is worth saving, though in a very different form, under a different name. Superlative talent will carry an even bigger premium to be heard over incessant social noise. And outlets where we forge relationships and tell stories will become even smaller and much more precise.

The Sunday New York Times’ prolific feature on Bob Greenberg is just that not only for its length – it a huge piece — but for the commentary that reinforces the content of this blog and others following the movement. As head of IPG shop R/GA, Greenberg is viewed as the lead visionary trumpeting a new, technology-driven era for the branding business. Whether you’re sitting in a corporation, ad agency, PR firm or integrated shop, you should listen closely to what he and his clients have to say. Some quotes and attributions you can find in the piece.

“All of the corporations, agencies and marketing professionals who jointly hone and fire off a fusillade of messages across the commercial landscape each day need to overhaul both their organizational structures and how they relate to consumers — particularly the 20-something buyers called “millennials.”

“The Web is not a one-trick pony. The Internet is a new language because it’s not linear. The novel is linear, film is linear, but the Web is not.”

“I think technology is going to wreak havoc on the agency business. Because of advances in technology and communication, we’re surrounded by information we see and hear. Overload is a huge issue.”

“It’s not just that the interactivity and creativity is about commercials, TV and advertising. The development that comes out of it all is about how people interact and communicate. It’s about how they learn.”

“I think things are going to get infinitely more complex. The challenge is about taking things that are infinitely complex and making them simpler and more understandable.”

“Major money is going to be in motion in the next decade and yet no one really understands exactly where it will land, or even if it will land, or just disappear altogether.” (From Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton, an R/GA client)

“It’s all about one thing: creative problem-solving sponsored by corporations to get the story out.”

Not much else to say…

(But if the Times piece isn’t enough you can read more in a December Business Week feature located here).

Technorati Tags: new media, social marketing, PR 2.0, R/GA

There is a growing consensus among marketing prognosticators that companies must to think more like media companies to effectively reach consumers and key constituents. While it hasn’t reach a critical mass, the rise of blogs, podcasts and other branded content, coupled with the ability to offer this content easily, inexpensively and directly to consumers, makes this movement inevitable. Steve Rubel has a couple posts on the topic to check out – one that debates how soon “created media” will trump “earned media” and another today which suggests iTunes will put broadcast media bureaus out of business. Two good write-ups on the need to think like a broadcaster come include Mike Manuel’s PR 2.0 post as well as Randall Rothenberg’s New Year’s resolution.

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired, writes about how he primarily gets his news through a personal “editor,” consisting of approximately 150 blog feeds, versus reading mainstream media. The post is worth a look not only for the irony in his media habits, but also for his take on what magazines and content creators must do to stay relevant. Link from PSFK.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Media, Social Media

A recent Business 2.0 post not surprisingly plays up another (_________) Economy concept driven by technological and social discontinuities. On the heels of the New, Experience, Hydrogen, and even the Interesting Economy, a new one is taking form – that being the Attention Economy. Its premise is simple. The explosion of micromedia formats and channels is going to put a serious strain on information and entertainment you can reasonably process. With that in mind, the thinking goes the cost of carrying out mass media/marketing programs will increase in cost and get increasingly marginal returns. Clearly, a serious issue for media, marketers and others in the persuasion business. The referenced source for the Business 2.0 post is Bubblegeneration. As you work through their site you can dive in as deep as you like and find some pretty detailed presentations on the economics behind peer production and media 2.0, among their other practice areas.

Keeping with growing trend of using games and entertainment to engage audiences , Toyota is planning a game show to educate people on the merits of hybrids.