The impact of web 2.0 on brands

There were some interesing insights at last night’s CIM event in Birmingham hosted by Luke Biddle. The focus was on digital communications and the impact of web 2.0 on brands.

Simon Cox and Andy Wood, from digital agency, Freestyle, argued that rather than the client, it’s now consumers that own their brands. The proliferation of digital media mean that as much exposure can be given to a dissatisfied customer blogging about poor a customer service experience, than to the more controlled advertising and PR messages put out by the client.

So how should we respond to that? We need to learn to give away control. Companies need to start developing their marketing strategy around building relationships with customers. We need to find the brand advocates out there. Then start to connect with them whererever they are, such as in blogs, forums or social networking sites.

Actually it really all comes down to that most effecive of marketing communication tools – word of mouth. Perhaps it’s really just about how we can participate in the great online conversation.