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The current communication shifts are permanent.  In this three-part series, I’ll cover the impact these changes are having on the medium, the message and companies.  And, as always, challenge the assumptions here, and add your own.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll discuss the influence of blogging – both the tools that let anyone contribute to the conversation as well as how bloggers are increasingly controlling the news cycle.  I’ll also cover how these mediums treat a company’s message and how the blogosphere can offer insight to how a company’s message will be perceived before it’s conveyed.  And, I’ll discuss the winning strategies of companies who understand and appreciate the new communications environment and how those that don’t resist the instinct to control the message and news are more likely to lag behind others in perception and in their ability to benefit from the new order.

The re-making of a revolution

To set the stage for this look at the changing information landscape, I offer the preamble to this communications shift.

For the purpose of this post, the changes we are experiencing today were set into motion by the environment and technologies created during the dot-com era of the late 90s.  It was during this time that the promise was born of connecting millions of people over the Internet in conversation and commerce through technology.  From this time, we get the widespread use of e-mail as a primary communications tool, we get the early social networks like Facebook, it’s where search gets its roots and, it’s when the Internet was a great experiment in commerce.

Fast forward to 2005 and 2006, and you see the stabilizing and proliferation of social networks, the rise of the social Web and the refining of business models and practices honed on the experiments of the dot-com era.  It’s also where the Web transitions from a commodity-driven medium to a conversation-driven medium.

Impact Point #1: Social Networks

Even in the past year, the social Web has experienced an explosion of new users. Thanks to open development platforms, social networks can talk to one another, making it possible for all of these people to take their friends with them to new networks and invite others to even more.

All of these “friend” networks accelerated the exchange of information and have created the connected web of interests and various levels of relationships among people that we see today.  This ease of idea exchange has also created an expectation for openness from companies and individuals that can’t be reversed.  The benefit is a more honest dialogue between companies, customers and those within an individual’s social network.

This transparency has had a profound impact on the way companies communicate.  Those that don’t embrace this new reality risk long-term brand depreciation.

Impact Point #2: The Business of Blogging

While the social Web was forming, the rise of blogging passed through the phase of experimentation and being relegated to the spare-time musings of those with the technical skills to secure a domain name to a mainstream activity accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

Today, blogging has come of age, with full-time bloggers, many of which were pulled from traditional media jobs, either deliberately or who were forced online because of the decline of traditional media. 

The ecosystem of blogging, from the technology platforms like WordPress and Blogger that enable the activity, to micro-blogging platforms like Twitter and the formal gatherings and events that bring the industry together has become a multi-billion-dollar industry with far-reaching implications for companies that feed the real-time news cycle.  And, the influence of blogs on traditional media and a company’s message is real and documented.

Impact Point #3: Restructuring an Institution

Traditional media continues to show the signs of an industry in need of a new approach. The increase in interpersonal connectivity and the improvements in the quality of content through professional bloggers, the strains of delivering news to front steps and into living rooms each day for traditional media and shifts in the general public’s appetite for opinion over objectivity have all taken a toll on the business models of the traditional institutions. 

We’re seeing these shifts take hold in places like CNN and some of the major dailies around the country that are trying to embrace many of the techniques of new media.  But, traditional media needs to move quickly past the point of experimentation with the online medium to fully embracing it and understanding the  impact of the public’s new preference for consuming information through osmosis – being at the center of their personal information feeds and being part of the information-generation cycle.

The long-term shift

The changes happening in the news and information lifecycle continue to have real and long-term impact on a brand’s perception.  That’s obvious.  How companies will realize, embrace and navigate this change is the focus of this series.

In the next post, I’ll look more closely at the role the blogosphere plays in impacting the perception of a brand and feeding the consumption patterns for the information-consuming public.  I’ll break down the personalities in the blogosphere, understanding who matters and how to engage in a meaningful dialogue with online influencers in a way that helps ensure that a company’s perspective is represented.  And, I’ll discuss the risk too many companies take when they dismiss or ignore the medium.

Until then, it’s a new world.  Embrace it.

In the late-90s one of my first agency clients was a Web site called Mall.com. It was the mall, online.  What could be easier, right?  The client vehemently defended the point that it was more than a Web site.  It was an “online destination” – a virtual respite on the quest for the latest Gap seasonals or Dell discounts.  We’ll let history debate the validity of Mall.com’s e-commerce business model, but I mention them because Mall.com provides a good test case when looking at the the migration patterns of of the early consumer Web against those of today’s social Web.

As I work with clients today on their social media strategy, one of the things that’s most interesting and with the most potential is the promise of online communities moving offline.  The easiest example of this is Twitter, where community is created based on the collective sharing of experiences, events and emotion within the context of a 140-character post.  The connections made on Twitter are easy to carry offline and often are.

Where the early days of the Internet were focused on driving the offline online, today’s Internet gives companies the ability to create a forum for conversation and interaction and a reverse migration to the offline world.   From Twitter to Facebook to a company’s own micro site, wherever companies can facilitate a discussion, they have an opportunity to harness that conversation offline.

The key to the success of this migration is for companies to be enablers of the discussion, built on the understanding that the community participants own the content, tone and direction of the conversation – with the company benefiting by playing the role of facilitator.  You also have to make a natural connection between the online and offline discussion.

Hidden Potential

Few companies have tapped into the potential to create affinity for a brand in this way, but some are getting close.  A company like Starbucks has the ability to take advantage of this.  The Starbucks brand is already ubiquitous offline, there is strong customer loyalty and the brand is about community – the community of coffee.  A strong online community like the one that Starbucks is working to develop could be driven to offline retail in a purposeful way, strengthening the community and the brand in the process.  Starbucks has begun to do this through their customer feedback site online and in stores through comment cards. 

Others that also fit this mold and that are working to elevate their online conversations include Popeye’s Chicken and Jason’s Deli.  Although all of these that I’ve referenced are consumer-facing companies, I’m compiling a list of B2B companies that are doing a good job of creating community for thier business brand.

Migration Mechanics

It’s important to realize that there are a few major enablers of this phenomenon. 1)  Volume – the more people online, the louder the conversation gets, yet the easier it is for niche communities to form.  2) The increase in use of social tools.  While Twitter is still relegated mostly to early adopters, and even if the function of Twitter doesn’t live on in it’s current state, the impact it has on introducing people to shared thoughts and discussions online will live on.  3) The mobile Web.  This is the most important of these enablers and will be the area where the most progress will happen.  The mobile Web is also the third dimension in this online/offline world, or a quasi online/offline world.  As the power of the mobile Web is harnessed, it will solidify a location-agnostic existence and further enable the offline migration of online community members.

As more people go online and use social tools, the potential to harness the online conversations naturally increases, you’ll see more of this migration – with the end result being a more engaged consumer with greater brand loyalty.

There’s a post by Stephen Baker on BusinessWeek.com that points to research saying that a product review by Walt Mossberg influences the value of a company’s stock.  Get a good review from Uncle Walt, and you could get a bump of about $500 million.  If Uncle Walt’s not feeling your product, it could have the opposite impact – to the tune of $200 million. 

I’m not going to argue with the numbers, mainly because my calculator only go to 9, and there’s no doubt that Mossberg is influential.  But, I think there’s another side to this story that shines the light on the new guards of media, like the gadget bloggers tirelessly viewing and reviewing the latest technology, keeping up with the latest developments in technology and always feeding the reader’s appetite for more and faster tech news.

I don’t doubt that Walt’s words impact those with fiscal leanings, specifically those who can impact a company’s stock price from Wall Street.  But, I suspect that the gadget bloggers impact those closer to main street who wait in line for the latest gaming console or cell phone to snatch them up as soon as they hit the shelves.

In that sense, blogs like Gizmodo and Engadget might be a better barometer for the success of a product than Uncle Walt.

I’m interested in what you think, so here’s another poll.

There’s always something to get in the way of doing the things we want to do. And, that’s my excuse for not updating my blog. Today, I found a reason to cut through the clutter and post again.

I’ve begun attaching the title of “beta junkie” to my online profiles. I love testing out new services, whether they are new to me, or new to the blogoshpere. It’s my experience with these new services that I’ll look to capture here.

Until I get my thoughts together about the current things I’m testing, what better way to kick this off than with a service that will give me content for future posts. The new service I’m trying out is PollDaddy.com. I just signed up for a free account, and I’m hoping that it will offer insight to the thoughts and experiences of those who follow me on Twitter, and eventually this blog.

I signed up for a free account, which you can do, too, to kick the tires a bit. It’s easy to sign up, quick to create a poll and easy to integrate into your site.

I’ll host the polls here and link to them from Twitter. Feel free to ping me with any interesting poll topics you come up with, too. I’ll give more details on this poll with the post I do with the results of the question below.

So, for now, here is the first poll. Let’s see how it goes.

I read the piece in the Sunday NYT about how bloggers work around the clock to be first to post on a new technology or to get an advanced look at the latest cell phone.  I can attest to the long hours because I see it first-hand in my PR role.

One thing’s for sure – the current pace cannot be sustained.  Whether it’s adding writers or gaining some sanity in the balance between breaking news and deeper dives on specific topics, a change is already underway.

Lack of talent would seem to be one area that the blogosphere should be immune to.  The fact is, it’s difficult to find talent with the specific set of skills required to keep pace and make money in the 48/7 world of blogging.

At the top of the list from both audience and speed are the gadget blogs – Gizmodo, Engadget, CrunchGear and others.  They compete fiercely for the latest content – handsets, software launches, new console games, whatever content their readers are interested in.  And, seconds matter.

There is another category of tech blogs that I think better represent where the industry is going.  Ars Technica is one of the best examples of this format – with longer form posts that explore the issues around the news.  They compete on depth of content over speed.

The gadget blog will still be relevant, and they have done a good mixing in interesting posts among the breaking news.  But even gadget blogs like Gizmodo are looking at longer-format posts.

So, for the time being, the blogosphere will handle and run like a sports car, but the future will be found in the ample legroom and comfort of the sedan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

Recently at an event, I discussed the state of traditional media, and the growth of online, social media. I mentioned that there are two main themes driving the growth in online media, and conversely creating challenges for traditional media. First, the financial commitment to deliver the printed word to a subscriber’s doorstep each day is becoming a losing proposition for traditional media, causing a consolidation and general shift in the traditional approach. Second, the fundamental tenant of traditional media as being a balanced, objective source of news is being challenged by the engagement consumers get through the opinion that permeates blog postings – driving more consumers online for news and commentary.
I’ll add two more of those drivers here. One is the continuing evolution of what constitutes news. In the new media environment, editorial control with its authority and one-way push has given way to the idea of a social media platform. A good example of this is how FastCompany has evolved from a print publication to more of a social media platform, complete with the tagline “Where Ideas and People Meet,” to the launch of FastCompany TV and it’s lead personality, Robert Scoble, a social media icon. FastCompany’s evolution is being rewarded with visitors and revenues. This shift to be more of a social, information-sharing platform has led to success – both in site metrics and revenues. And, the trend isn’t isolated to tech titles. It can also be seen in traditional newspapers, which are using focused content, like gardening, family and other themes to engage, create and enlist communities.
The final driver of this paradigm shift is the idea of deep linking – the ability for users to bypass a site’s homepage and go directly to the content they want. This has changed the way people interact with news sites and, as a result, get their news. And, many traditional news outlets are still wrestling with the idea of letting other sites link to their content for fear of not getting credit for it. This YouTube video from the NAB show demonstrates not only the benefit of news sites becoming aggregators through deep linking, but also the way the Web can create destinations where multiple elements, from traditional news, to blogs and even user-generated content can be combined to provide a comprehensive view of a news event. So, the loyalty of the sites that allow for this deep linking, and more importantly the sites that are becoming aggregators, is being built around credible answers to questions and sources of information. The result is a much destabilized media environment with its own winners and losers, many of them in surprising places.
So what does this mean for us as marketers? How is the growth in popularity of blogs, the evolution of news and news consumption relevant to the work we do?
This shift in the media paradigm influences how, when, where and why we engage online. Knowing that consumers are gravitating to online sources of information, which include niche groups focused on the topics of most relevance to them, underscores the need to actively engage online. As this migration continues, it’s important to recognize that social media is a medium with a new set of rules – most of which are unspoken and only apparent through considerable commitment to know and understand the medium before we engage. But, underlying all of this is the idea that consumers are more tied to, and even drive, much of the discussion online.
To best navigate this shift, we can use the following guiding truths as we put more emphasis online. 

• The consumer is in control – and an active participant in shaping the perception of a brand

• Channels have fragmented – requiring a comprehensive and integrated approach• Sources of trust have shifted – they are more personal and reside in closer proximity to the consumer

• Content creation and distribution have been democratized

• Transparency is required – a company’s credibility is built on truth and consistency

• Engage in the conversation or fail to communicate
Understanding the implications of this shift online on the brand and products is critical to navigating the digital realm. And, following the themes we outlined in the session of transparency, understanding the medium and the idea that consumers own the brand, we are seeing a clear path forward as we roll out new digital initiatives – one with the consumer at the center, connected and aware of all of the sources of information around them.