In 1999, Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger wrote a book that was so prophetic, it arguably shaped and reinvented the way that businesses approached communicating with their key markets using the Internet. At a time when there was only a minimal amount of social networking sites and message boards were one of the only ways people were interacting with eachother online, the book was eerily ahead of its time with its theories and predictions. The above title is number 28 out of 95 theses that the authors of the bestselling book, The Cluetrain Manifesto, stated.
Today, organizations are embracing the online and social media space in two distinct ways. Some organizations that have embraced the social Web to communicate their messages with their key markets using a number of different online communications channels. Some companies have thrived to be more open in terms of allowing the public to go behind the scenes. Elements that pull the curtain back on certain organizations are being added to corporate sites more and more frequently. Corporate blogs and liberal blogging policies implemented by other organizations allow employees to share what they do on a day-to-day basis with their stakeholders. This thesis is becoming less and less relevant as organizations begin to utilize social media and social media marketing.
Even a once staid and faceless corporation like Microsoft has opened itself up with internal videos and by actively encouraging employees at all levels to blog and to share their work with the outside world.
Ten years from now, more and more organizations will follow in Microsoft’s steps. They will be open to scrutiny and will continue to win the trust of their key stakeholders once they’ve stepped into the online space. People have a human need to want to connect with each other and we are seeing more people openly and willingly interact with the organizations and brands that they are most passionate about. Facebook, for example, is a social networking site that we see vast numbers of people engaging with each other and with brands on Facebook fan pages.
Although the above thesis may not stand as strong ten years from now, this book is a must-read for all marketers looking to effectively understand why they need to change their marketing strategy and to learn how to communicate with their key audience. As Michael Wolfe puts it, “Love it or hate it, no one with a stake in the online scene can afford to ignore what this book is saying.”
