Why? Successful companies, with tight and highly evolved brand strategies, with brain trusts of marketing expertise and forward thinking management, fail making a big splash in the on-line world.But we have a great web site. We have an on-line strategy. We have SEO. We have viral. Only thing we don’t have is revenue.

For too long, management has been accepting the rationalisation, “It will come in time, just wait for the web to mature.” Management recongises maturity – and its here.

The answer lies in the concept of community. The lessons of web2.0 are that community, and its ability to create heroes is the key. Likewise, there is the balancing ability to create villains, louts, wanna-be, boors, neutrons, raconteurs, aficionados, sweethearts, chums and rivals.

Cases in point, Big Macs foray into Second life where their virtual outlets were vandalised and desecrated. Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s initial attempt to harness YouTube with a desktop chat about Global Warming that was met with derision, ridicule and general evisceration.

Mamma told me long time ago, not everybody can be a hero. It is rarified air at the top of the heap. Just be a good bloke, do the right thing by people, share and be fair, and you’ll have plenty of friends. The same lesson applies to organisations with eyes on web2.0 dollars.

Its a community now. Just because you have a brand strategy that controls and pre-supposes every angle of your brand awareness. Just because you can control all your outlets, products, advertisements and publications. Just because you have vision, foresight and planning.

It doesn’t mean the community shares your perspective. You must learn to manage, not control. You must learn to negotiate, ingratiate and appreciate within the community. Be prepared to fight. Be prepared for a bloody nose.

New values apply within this community on the parallel universe. You can’t walk into a club house, and start singing your song over the top of the house music and expect applause. You can’t demand that nobody comes to your table who is wearing red. You can’t expect people to line up to hear your great stories when the locals have been chatting for years, and they don’t care where you came from, or who you are.

Bribery, well, it can work, in the long term, substance trumps sleaze.

You have to earn respect. You have to foster friendships. You have to have substance and initiative.

And most of all you have to be a good neighbour, and help look after the place with the rest of the community.

Matthew Aaron
Aaron Interactive

Relevant Links:

From http://www.mortaragency.com:

Surprise! You no longer own your brand. Your customers do. People don’t accept brands at face value anymore. They mess around with them. Make demands. Deliver ultimatums. Today, successful brands evolve into communities. Tribes. Nations. And while companies are still free to create brands, only consumers have the power to control their destiny.

Sure, marketers like us have to give up a bit of control. But the payoff can be pretty impressive. Your customers can now do things for your brand that mere ad campaigns only dreamed of.

Which makes right now a great time to start a conversation.

From Killian Advertising.com:

http://www.killianadvertising.com/killianspeaks.html – Branding and SEO http://www.killianadvertising.com/audio/bobspeak2.mov

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