Companies are rethinking how they get their message to the masses. Instead of journalists and PR agencies, they are looking more and more to key influencers to, via social media, help build buzz.
Got Influence? Twitter, Facebook and the New Buzz Machine - The Endorsement: It Worked for Smokes, Scotch and Zit Cream
It Worked for Smokes, Scotch and Zit Cream
The current focus on “decision maker ecosystems” updates a well-worn page
from the politicians’ playbook: Indentify friendly faces, preferably
neighborhood big shots. Get them excited, then have them spread the word for
and about you. If all goes well, you soon have a grassroots movement that will
attract press and wider attention.
Social influence marketing also updates and personalizes one
of the oldest, hoariest forms of advertising: the endorsement. Now, instead of
film star Ronald Reagan hawking Chesterfield cigarettes, Bill
Murray repping Suntory Scotch in the film “Lost in Translation” or Jessica
Simpson pushing ProActiv acne treatment, it’s that successful young CEO,
your favorite microblogger mom or your cool friend saying that XYZ is insanely
great. You know a celebrity (or even a no-name)
endorser is getting paid; you assume (maybe rightly) that your Uncle Leo is
not.
In its own way, Microsoft’s current “I’m a PC” ad campaign reflects this
spirit: A loopy mom and ‘tween son shop for laptops and gleefully discover they
cost less than Macs. Just someone like you and me, saving money. It’s why the
company's Jerry Seinfeld ads flopped.
Nobody Knows You’re a Dog
Unlike some of my peers in media and marketing, I’m not freaked out by the
rise of influencer marketing. Really, it’s just a twist on what’s been going on
since the invention of the flint spear, wheel and wineskins.
More people involved in the process means ideas will rise and fall more
quickly and easily. It’s already happening, and it’s all good. Why wait for a
single cranky journalist to get around to writing something? The masses
twittering can actually serve a valuable role doing some legwork for
journalists, identifying and vetting trends that warrant closer, more objective
scrutiny.
That said, a healthy dose of caution is in order. Like them or not,
professional journalists and PR people, the responsible ones anyway, act as an
important check on unfiltered utterances from companies that range from
unrealistically enthusiastic to outright lies. Without them, whether it's
politics or tech, we’re back to “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”
Then there’s the question of disclosure. Presumably, objective journalists
have no ax to grind. In this new world, much of that transparency is lost. The
better Websites publish disclosures of authors’ connections. No such custom or
mechanism currently exists for influence marketing.
All this means that being a smarter user of technology today requires you to
become a smarter, more aware consumer of technology information. “Consider your
sources” and “check your facts” are bedrock maxims of professional journalism.
So is asking, “Why is this person telling me this?” Not bad to keep in mind the
next time you get an enthusiastic e-mail from a “friend.”
You know a celebrity (or even a no-name)
endorser is getting paid; you assume (maybe rightly) that your Uncle Leo is
not. 
