There is a reason that American Airlines doesn’t let the passengers fly the planes. There’s an equally good reason that the hospital doesn’t allow its patients to perform emergency surgeries. Simply put – the majority of the folks don’t have the skill set to do it.
Erik Hauser captured my attention several years ago with a paper he wrote about brand animation. Erik defined an old world order of marketing where products and services are created for consumption and marketing/advertising professionals are engaged to expedite the process by making those products outsell the competition. He also painted a picture of the new world order of marketing. This is marketing dominated by customer generated content and produced by people who think that creating successful marketing is as easy as 1-2-3; much like American Idol contestants think they are the world’s next best undiscovered singer.
Erik has a point. The growth of the internet, blogs, Twitter and Facebook has certainly shifted the way information is being created and being consumed. The recent economic downturn has played a role, too. Walk any trade show floor and you’ll see dozens, if not hundreds, of examples of do-it-yourself campaigns.
The question is, how good are those campaigns?
Erik makes the point that the sound of everyone shouting to be heard all at once is just creating a lot of white nose. Of course, great marketing can cut through that noise. While great creative campaigns seem rare today they’re certainly not unattainable. Even in an age of do-it-yourself advertising, the practiced hand of an experienced marketing professional can help any brand rise above the roar.
To quote one of the great campaigns to have come along in the past decade, “You can do it. We can help.”