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Since the “People Powered” meme has hijacked my usual Web 3.0 speculation, I am going to make the best of it and write an addendum to my Advertising 3.0 treatise from a few weeks back. Let me introduce you to the idea of Conversational Media.

Web 3.0

As always, here is the definition of Web 3.0 I will be applying.

Highly specialized information silos, moderated by a cult of personality, validated by the community, and put into context with the inclusion of meta-data through widgets.

The important part, in this context, is that bit about cults of personality.

Why Ads Don’t Work

As readers, writers and entrepreneurs we are conditioned to filter out that which, “does not matter”. About fifteen minutes after the banner ad was created, sometime near the dawn of time, it was added to that list. As a result, your average web surfer does not even “see” ads, let alone respond to them in any of the ways that advertisers would prefer us to.

Click Thru Rate is not the king of the hill any longer, advertisers need to be sure that they are getting their message across. As a result, new modes of getting the attention of an increasingly jaded public have to be devised.

Conversational Media

Conversational Media involves generating buzz through linking an idea (meme) to endorsers that have credibility in associated fields. An example would be a be sports bloggers being quoted as describing in what situations they have been called on to, “Just Do It!” and how that has positively affected their lives.

The way this media works is to use cults of personality to add creditability to claims made about a product or brand. This is done not through a clear endorsement, but through “discussing” a topic of the sponsors choosing. Of course, this is most effective when this topic is a registered trademark of the company doing the sponsorship.

This is a wildly effective way of turning an incredibly boring topic into something worthy of discussion. This conversation will occasionally become a meme, causing other bloggers to start using the phrase and linking ideas of trust and creditability back to the advertiser who devised it.

Related Concepts: Endorsements

All Press Is Good

To return to the meme at hand for the moment, Microsoft must be having a hay day with this latest turn in its fortunes. All at once, a marginally successful campaign has drawn the attention of scads of people. Their “People Ready” meme is now burned deeply in the collective sub-conscious of the blogosphere, and it won’t be long before this campaign starts paying dividends for them.

What I am trying to say, is that Conversational Media is one of those trends that works regardless of how you slice it. If people blindly believe the endorsers (as we occasional do when we see quotes from movie reviewers) then the catch phrase becomes associated with warm feelings, and the company sees a small spike in customer contentment and brand recognition.

If things go horribly wrong, brands that are interesting but have a hard time evoking the passion of the masses (Microsoft) get their 15 minutes in the limelight. Everyone involved in the controversy gets a bit of a traffic boost, and three days letter the blogosphere forgets why it was angry to begin with. It also creates evangelists, there is nothing like a controversy to drive people away from the fence.

All in all, at worse it can temporarily hurt PR while substantially improving brand cohesion for the people who like your company. It also greatly improves exposure of the idea, and has built in viral effects should things get “out of hand”.

Related Companies: Federated Media, Gawkers, Pay Per Post

Summary

• Advertisers co-opt influential writers to begin “conversations”.
• These conversations often surround a brand, or brandable trademark.
• They are designed to increase exposure of that brand, and start organic conversations outside of the scope of the campaign.
• When successful, they have the standard benefits associated with increased exposure and good PR.
• When “unsuccessful” they have the additional benefit of viral exposure, and increased brand evangelism.

Web 2.0 Roundup

Honestly, this sort of advertising isn’t going away, in fact it will only become more wide spread as niche advertisers look for smaller blogs to engage in these “conversations” . None of the bloggers who have been involved in today’s controversy are going to be harmed by the fall out and everyone will see things a lot more clearly after a good nights sleep. That being the case, this is my final sound off on how conversational media should be used.

As cults of personality become more dominant in the Web 3.0 culture, they will need to apply checks and balances to the way that they “use” their celebrity. Public trust is a finite thing, and once you lose it you can’t get it back very easily. Publishers and advertisers will need to strike a balance between the needs of a particular ad campaign, and the loss of creditability associated with paid endorsements. I think Robert Scoble said it best, do whatever you want but if you don’t want to leave yourself open to attack — disclose it.