Ad agencies are as clueless about social media as they still are about blog advertising, content sponsorship and presence management

Thanks all for some great comments. I think it's pretty obvious that social media, while it has some basic rules, is more difficult, time consuming, and involved than traditional. The measurement and metrics alone have yet to be defined clearly. The great social media programs/examples are few and far between (understandable given this is still relatively new) and while there is a lot of talent creating, experimenting and even pontificating, it's not as if there is one definitive expert with a foolproof set of instructions. But if you start with your audience: figure out what matters to them: how they want to engage; what kind of information they seek; to what degree they want to participate, socialize, search and solve themselves; then let them play a key role in all of the above, you're likely to succeed.

When I think about the exponential acceleration of change, with regard to the mediascape, it becomes clear that good, old-fashioned brand alignment is the mooring to which all vessels -- known and yet-to-be-known -- are anchored. As Edward and David suggest, above, the times they are a changin' yet again, and I suspect they're on performance enhancers. MarketingProfs yesterday was the latest to recall the Did you know? video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8) to our attention, and pointed out that it took radio 38 years to reach a market audience of 50M; television 13 years; the internet 4 years; iPod 3 years; and Facebook 2 years. This constantly-accelerating change requires all channel strategists and executors to remain grounded in sound marketing principles, and immersed in the organization's brand, regardless of the medium. Emboldened by that unifying core we can then assess new media opportunities as they emerge, and dream about how they might strengthen a given client's relationship with its audience. One thing's for sure: What it is today is not what it will be tomorrow. However, brand alignment and creative execution will always be what separates the winners from those lost in the noise.

Glad to see my comment inspired your post and this lively conversation. Thanks for the shout out! B.L. Ochman’s last blog post..How to Pick Your Social Media Guru

Let me tweak the back half of your quote about good and great work and simply apply it to social media. "...great (social media) tells you what a brand stands for and why you should share in its beliefs." - E. Boches This fundamental truth is a powerful foundation from which to build a social media/integrated communication program - whether you're a PR firm, ad agency, or whatever. Leo Bottary’s last blog post..Client Service And Team ClustrMaps

Great post and convo in the comments. A couple of thoughts... I like the line - "successful social media programs call for all three: SEO, PR, and content worth remembering." Thing is, content worth "remembering" only gets you to second. And, clients aren't paying for doubles. Social media, from a marketing/ROI standpoint, is about content worth "evangelizing." And, that's a whole different threshold. Jonathan Fields’s last blog post..Career Renegade on Fox [video]

I completely agree. The future of marketing lies in our ability to merge all of these disparate disciplines into one uniform strategy toward a clearly defined goal. And in this time when digital consumer culture is transforming so rapidly, success will come to those agencies who can recognize marketing opportunities in this new space and integrate new, clever strategies that utilize these new tools. I don't doubt that many agencies are finding it difficult to keep up, but marketing has always been about finding your consumer in the most relevant media space and providing them with a reason to pay attention. Yes, I think it will be important to learn quickly and find people to execute different aspects of a campaign knowledgeably. However, as proven by companies like Comcast who have proven impeccable customer service online and still have awful customer service via phone, I think that maintaining harmonious messaging will prove to be the most difficult task of companies who are taking the leap into social media. Because we need to remember that it is just another tool in the tool box and it needs to be used to build the same brand.

Ad agencies are clueless? I definitely think some are, but I wonder if the real issue is a mar/comm identity crisis? When you’ve spent an entire career mastering market data, producing killer creative and placing media; seeking, listening and participating in social media conversations is fundamentally foreign and more than a little disruptive. Moving from brand monologue to dialogue requires a committed relationship that may (and probably should) extend beyond a given campaign, another potential disruption. Finally, fragmented audience and the need for microcustomization is a real challenge for creatives accustomed to marketing to the masses. How do you solve this? First of all, stop being an Ad agency, a PR agency or a Direct Marketing agency. The future depends upon the successful merging of all of those disciplines, plus a smattering of CRM. Understanding an audience and providing them with content that provides context and drives conversations is the win here. Some of that content will be creative some informational. All of it should accrue to a comprehensive sense of brand identity and experience. An agency that truly masters this transformation will have a role with their clients that is truly revolutionary, and some clients may decide to take on the core functions themselves. Ultimately, successfully mastering the new world of social media influence is a true partnership between clients, agencies and audiences. Doug Winfield’s last blog post..Does advertising need more artists or better audience relationships?

Well done. You could not quote a more knowledgable person than BL Ochman. I so agree that we need to work together - agencies, blog professionals, social media experts (although that term is questionable because social media hasn't been around long enough for any of us to be 'expert' at it, truly)... If we all recognize each others' abilities and talents, and give the client the best of what we bring to the table, everyone wins. IMHO Yvonne DiVita’s last blog post..Ignore the Names, Please Take Us Seriously. Please?

The impact of social media and relevant content is going to cause/force agencies to produce more impactful programs one way or another. And if they want to succeed, they need to keep up. It isn't about pushing a brand on people anymore, because they now have more power to speak their minds than ever before. Anna Barcelos’s last blog post..B2B Case Study: ShipServ

Great forward-looking assessment. To date, it's been relatively easy for companies who have jumped into social media to stand out, namely because most companies haven't. But, as you note, that will change. It's the same thing we've seen with every other medium. The first companies to invest heavily in TV stood out like sore thumbs because there wasn't much noise. Now it's ridiculously difficult to create something for TV that breaks through and is memorable. Social media won't be any different. One day in the near future, every brand that we demand interact with us in social media will be there to some extent. And the space will become crowded and loud. When that happens, and it already is beginning, the challenge won't be developing a smart strategy for brands to interact on twitter. It will be developing ideas that capture an attention span for longer than a micro-second. Great insights, as usual. David Mullen’s last blog post..Should Brands Never Advertise in Social Media?

I think 'Content worth remembering' is becoming the apex of the triangle. We no longer sit passively in front of a focused media stream; newspaper, magazine, radio, or television - but are immersed in a flood of data where we can only snatch and grab trying to stay afloat. Great blog, hope some SEO and PR people read it.