Are You Reading Or Sharing?

Thanks to everyone who added their thoughts to the last post about the ongoing confusion in marketing metrics.  Typical of the helpful comments was this one from Nick Buckley from Gfk NOP : "We should stop trying to measure our ability to control and transmit the message - since the ultimate implication of this is that the message has to depart from 'the truth' about our products and services, in order to compensate for the gap between 'the truth' and what we desire people to think and do.  Instead - assuming that social media, and related developments, create ever more transparency and scrutiny of our claims and our performance we should; be open and honest, make good things, provide good services, and *listen* as if our livelihoods depended upon it. [Which they do]."  Nick also liked Charles' idea that we should be thinking, "about the different engagement experiences," to understand better the contrasts between people reading media and the sharing activity that takes place in social environments.  All of which Kevin thought could be explored as different reading "modes".  Whatever the answer, Eaon would like it sooner than later because if he can't offer, "engagement metrics that clients can buy," then search and display models are the ineffective defaults that fill the void.  However, Rory MacDonald suggests we might need a more radical change of viewpoint, possibly viewing all social activity as being too complex to measure in the normal way.  "Do you think Nike are worried about the metrics on Nike Plus?", he adds?  (Evidently not.)  Thanks to everyone for the input - genuinely inspiring.