Part 1 of 2

There are a lot of brands that still have not

successfully worked out how to generate tangible bottom line

results in the brave new world of social media. So much so that

it is worth taking a look at why.

To fully

understand the branding landscape, we have to acknowledge the

historic symbiosis that has existed between big brands and big

media. In traditional news media like television, print, and

radio, the news content has always been a loss leader for

advertising space. Back in the days of dominant conventional mass

media, huge advantages accrued to major brands, to the

disadvantage of both minor brands and, arguably, consumers. With

only three dominant television stations and one newspaper per

city, the scarcity of venues to advertise a brand created huge

barriers to entry in leveraging media to promote a business or

idea.

The equilibrium

between media and branding is currently undergoing its first

major shift into another phase of inverted asymmetry. Stories

like " href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars">United

Breaks Guitars," where a disgruntled musician

distributed a catchy song about his mishandled baggage, are just

the href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo">opening

salvo in illustrating how the

21^st century is experiencing a dramatic

change in the hierarchy of power. Modern platforms, YouTube in

this instance, give massive scope for expression of customer

frustration (over 11.5 million views), which has never been able

to be disseminated so easily beyond a group of family and

friendsInevitably, with new platforms and venues, less authentic

players will arise with exploitative motivations. Already in the

political arena, one of the favorite hand grenades thrown is the

accusation of "astroturfing," or faking grassroots appeals that

have significant commercial or political funding and investment.

Brands and media have found themselves "punked" by a competitor,

lobbyist or mischief-maker when discovered - too late - as behind

dishonest campaigns. Meanwhile, every occasion a genuine consumer

complaint is ignored, everybody loses: both the justifiably

aggrieved consumer and the now-tarnished brand.

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