“Sincerity is Everything…..

Posted on January 30, 2008
Filed Under Gregg Gallagher, Marketing, Social Media |

…and once you can fake that, you’ve got it made!”

So runs the old joke, and unfortunately, I’m am seeing the embodiment of this cynical approach in some circles regarding the use…no, make that the manipulation/exploitation of social media.

Am mostly seeing this attitude evidenced in the domains of traditional marketing communications and public relations professionals (should have been no surprise, I guess), but was recently taken aback when I attended a presentation by a so-called social media expert, who had created & led a couple of somewhat successful social networking start-ups. While I am paraphrasing, his recommendations regarding the use of social media were in the ballpark of “Just appear to be authentic, hire some people with the same demographics of your target market to participate in the interactions, and provide some forms of recognition to frequent contributors….”

No mention made of the benefits in engaging in an actual and meaningful conversations with your company’s constituencies…..nor of the advantages of building the customer into the process of product ideation and creation. (Nevermind the accelerating expectations & demands of customers for more transparency in the companies they do business with…)

Truth be told, I was slightly emboldened by the ingestion of some fermented spirits, and allowed myself to get on a bit of a soapbox and rage against the (spin) machine…. Later that evening, in the solitude of my home office I beat myself up a bit for being a bit too passionate - and perhaps, colorful - in my conversational style (OK, I admit it was a rant….).

Interestingly enough, I did receive a number of emails over the next few days which expressed alignment with my observations, and agreement that this is a disturbing trend with the marketing community.

So, if you’re a marketing professional that is currently engaged in - or considering the use of social media in your overall strategy - just what is your own personal philosophy regarding the use of social networking: as just another media to be leveraged and manipulated in pushing your messaging, or as an entirely new paradigm via which your company engages with their constituencies?

Gregg Gallagher
Director, Strategic Marketing & Innovation Practice
Quantum Leaders, Inc.

Comments

One Response to ““Sincerity is Everything…..”

  1. Richard Telofski on February 11th, 2008 1:24 pm

    Hi Gregg,

    Interesting situation. Appalling I should say. There are “bad actors” in every profession. I posted my comments about your article here.

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