Social media is having a dramatic and ultimately positive impact on marketing. But as Mary Beth acknowledges in her comment on Steve Ellis’ post (http://thenewmarketing.com/blogs/thenewmarketing/archive/2008/02/14/2269.aspx), it’s mostly impacting large consumer brands and their agencies.

The typical mid-sized agency with typical mid-sized B2B clients do indeed need to be paying attention, but I think the forecasting isn’t as accurate for them. So I don’t think it’s entirely fair for Jeremiah to say things like “I can’t imagine ever advising a client to deal with an advertising, PR, or interactive team that doesn’t get social media.” For the majority of advertising agencies and their B2B clients, social media is a very small facet of their current marketing. And appropriately so. I do think all agencies they should be paying careful attention, but right now social media strategies are not the most important (though not unimportant) activity for the typical B2B client. I think there are valuable lessons to be learned by keeping aware the changes, but that doesn’t usually translate to significant activity for the mid-sized B2B.

With that fairly wide qualifier I did think the report was very effective and well worth digesting.

My post: “Forrester Takes Aim at the Dis-Connected Agency” - http://www.newfangled.com/social_media_strategy_for_mid_sized_ad_agencies

Eric Holter
CEO - Newfangled Web Factory

Mary Beth — Thank you first, for the report. Quantifying the notions many have been offering recently is valuable to us and that’s what Forrester does best. Thank you next, for coming to clarify and discuss. You’re right, the implications are global, not limited to the U.S. I would be interested to see if there are any variations in the data polling U.S. subjects.

I agree that brands may not always be the most compelling reason to create community, but something about the notion of creating a community seems fake to me. Brands have community already built in. Customers, audiences, etc., are your community. From the first person who asks for more information or the first sale, brands have the opportunity to instill a sense of pride of use in that individual. If done properly, that individual tells someone about the brand and the cycle begins again. Soon you have a community of brand enthusiasts. It’s not whipped up like a social network or a building wing. It’s more organic than that but its growth can be fostered and encouraged. Yes, consumer-driven communities both have and will continue to be powerful market-changing forces and yes, agencies need to plug in, participate and understand them. They should even try to create networks of them as your report indicates. But the brands that win will have agencies that build communities of brand enthusiasts that go out to these consumer-driven networks and tell friends about their favorite brand of X.

Are they microcommunities? Are they social networks? Doesn’t matter. They are communities of people passionate about your brand. Thats what agencies need to facilitate. The greater communities of consumers will form on their own around social networks, buying and review sites, etc. Agencies need to fuel recommendation and product information into the greater communities through brand enthusiasm. Your report is thorough, thoughtful and well supported. I just think more credibility should be given to communities already in place around brands by virtue of organic growth. Communities shouldn’t be manufactured, by agencies or anyone else.

Kat — You are SO dead on. Unless the client gets it, the agency won’t be enabled to. We can get it all we want but when the check writer says, “Screw that. I don’t want people commenting on anything on my website,” then that’s what we do. Agencies can get a bad wrap based on executions of client’s wishes and that’s unfair.

I think Forrester is looking down the road a bit farther, though. Their assumption is that over the course of the next 5-10 years, more agencies will be recommending these evolutions to their clients. When everyone is saying it, the client is more apt to believe it. It’s all coming and Forrester is spot-on with that.

Thanks to all of you for the conversation. This is really appreciated.

True, but the other half of that equation is that clients must also evolve to that focus as well. If clients don’t unclench their grip on “counting impressions,” it doesn’t give their agency, even an interactive agency, much leeway to start corralling and marshaling that community around the brand.

I was encouraged this week because a fairly large client of ours is really beginning to start pursuing their innate community in earnest.

The more clients that get it, the more agencies will.

The European data is my doing - I’m based in Paris and Pete and I spoke with marketers and agencies both in Europe and in the States. The point is, the challenge is not just US-based.

“Brands may be tempted to go it alone but will only succeed with small groups of brand advocates.” Brand advocates are important, certainly (you may be interested in my upcoming research on Social Value) so not a shrug off, we just don’t believe that the brand will be the most compelling reason to create a community. We’re placing our bets on consumer-controlled communities built on shared interests and objectives, rather than on brand silos.

And indeed, we’ve had a few claims of ‘connectiveness’…

I tweeted about this report to let everyone know (that sometimes drives more traffic than my blog).

Also, Forrester publishes hundreds (thousands?) of docs a year, so I can’t link to them all the time.

Most importantly, Peter Kim has a blog, and has spread the word.

http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2008/02/the-connected-1.html