Joseph Jaffe doesn’t mince his words. In his book, "Life after the 30-second spot" he declares that "There’s a putrid stench emanating from the world of advertising right now. If you can’t smell it yourself, then you’re either used to it or you’ve lost your sense of smell altogether.."

It reminds me of an equally abrasive statement by Ed Morrow in "Good Night, Good Luck" when he says to the who’s who of television that their business has plenty of "evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live" and that that they, himself included should "get off, off our fat surpluses" and embrace change.

I am acutely reminded of the changes sweeping aross everything we have known in marketing and media. As a business writer, I see it first hand, but as a communicator, I see the pushback based on people unable to think and strategically, futuristically –where customers and audiences are headed. Many marketers are falling behind, so no wonder advertisers are not recognizing the stench, so to speak. There are  ‘agency’ people who have just stumbled on The Tipping Point — a book published 6 years ago! The world has leapt ahead since then, but they hobble on. At this rate, they will always be playing catch up..

The new media savvy companies are implementing Wikis, podcasts, and diving into Second Life. (Others are sadly still content sprucing up their web sites and polishing up their Intranets!) Even as we speak, MIT is about to launch a new web initiative; with Tim Berners-Lee is involved, you can bet it will be something big. I’m meeting some very intersting people next week involved in social networking, VOIP, and Search. They are definitely not ‘ad’ companies, but they are pushing the envelope of marketing. Stay tuned…

Continue reading →