Think Pebbles Not Boulders

Networked media is all about small things.  A group of college buddies staying in touch via Facebook.  A lively community chat in the comments section of a blog.  The sharing of a family recipe in a forum.  Podcasted thoughts on the best musicians of a loved genre.  Documented gripes that other mis-sold souls can appreciate.  A trail of links displaying the interests of a hobbyist.  A stream of photos documenting a trip through foreign lands.  All personalised passions around which simple human discussion and connections can grow.  Sometimes these small gestures can become elevated and snowball into permanent specialised communities - or even going concerns.  However, they almost always start small and usually stay that way.  Which is fine.  Unless, of course, you're only interested in big.  And increasingly that's what brands and marketing want from the networked media space.  They want big built-in from the get-go.  Which is a problem.  Because the only way to get to big is to start small.  But most big companies aren't very good at small.  They are very good at big.  They have big teams operating big ideas on big platforms to reach big audiences.  All so that they can 'move the needle' on massive market shares where 'small' is actually gazillions of packets, dollars, sales or assets.  And if your primary view is through a big telescope pointing at the horizon you will probably ignore the small steps in front of you and start firing off howitzers into the distance.  So what to do?  In short, think pebbles - not boulders.  Resist the temptation to gather several hundred weight of concrete into a single block - and launch it at one networked media ocean or another.  Let go of the desire for a ROI mushroom cloud.  Instead, choose a pebble and skim it across a nearby pond.  Then do it again - making sure you watch the ripples that result. That way you can begin to understand the local waters and how the tides flow.  Of course, the really great thing is that this approach is 100 per cent scalable.  Just keep throwing pebbles.

Comments

[Rebecca Caroe]

Spot on the mark!
this is (for me) the major reason why organisations who think in terms of "campaigns" will find it difficult to harness the opportunities in Social Media. A campaign is a one-off that drives a sales blip which is repeated with another one-off.

Social media rewards your ripples and pebbles and drives conversations that CONTINUE.

Campaigns must die. They are the reason most large organisations won't move into conversational marketing.

Rebecca Caroe

[james governor]

ummm. tell it to twitter!

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Rebecca. Yep, the campaign mentality is so deeply set into the industry it might take a while to kill off! ;-)

Hi James, I hear you, but this is more about brands operating effectively in networks than start-up growing pains.

[Brad Bell]

I believe the (even) bigger challenge for commercial brands and conversational marketing is this: they have nothing to talk about. Fizzy sugar water. Household cleanser. Tastes great. Less filling.

I come from the charity world, which makes this obvious. Charities have something to talk about: changing the world. It's a conversation that can go on for a long time.

Unfortunately, charities have traditionally followed in the footsteps of commercial brands. I'd like to convince charities that their natural affinity for internet media makes them the new leaders.

Think peace talks, not wars.

(I invoke the militaristic language of traditional marketing ;-)

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Brad, great analysis as ever....