Douglas Rushkoff breaks down the silliness of various ad campaigns as well as the reality that many current buzz campaigns really don't help their products.
These days, consumer goods are their own best media. Just as the Starbucks coffee cup and cafe experience sells more coffee than any TV or billboard advertising campaign, the shape of a automobile chassis or placement of its cupholders sells more cars than all that indistinguishable footage of cars taking turns on desert lakebeds. Great products are their own billboards, and satisfied customers (not to mention passionate employees) are their best spokespeople.
Obviously the wisdom in that goes beyond just advertising but should include your product development as well. Many apps on the Web get initial buzz and quick intake of users but do many actually stick around for long? We've seen it with things like Friendster, Orkut and various other things. After the initial use, most people either find some other shiny thing to play with or they go back to what they were using.
The challenge then is to build such a useful product ( and I really think that is the key to everything ) that people are not only using it constantly but they are telling folks about it. That's the kind of customer any company wants and needs.
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advertising, marketing, product+development