Short and sweet.
Google Adwords lets us pretend we’re not being advertised to and that we’re not influenced by advertising. Just as we scoff at the billboards at the side of the road.
“Your friend Jane just bought a new Honda and thinks your Chevvy sucks” breaks the spell. Social adverts are an oxymoron.
There is only one Cluetrain. Welcome aboard. Please make sure you have a genuine conversation before boarding. Coach B is the quiet carriage, please refrain from using your mobile phone in a manner which could disturb others.
Posted by Martin Geddes at 10:37 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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I believe facebook is so strong and google loves them. Can you give me more reasons why they're going to fail? Don't worry I'm not a fan of facebook but just want to know why..
Posted by: at November 18, 2007 05:52 AMHi Martin,
I agree as regards the current clumsy attempts, but God help us all if social networks can automate peer pressure: think of the viral marketing sales of clothing brands among teenagers wanting to belong to a given social group, or even kids wanting a particular toy for Christmas simply because it's been hysterically bandied around the playground. It's feasible that teenagers (and younger) could be targeted based on their friends recent activities - unethical, of course, but that doesn't (yet) seem to have stopped the unfocused broadcast ads targeting kids on cable channels who I'm sure would love to know the friends of whoever had bought one of their products...
Cheers,
Kevin