Friday, September 29, 2006

This is a Bubble - yes it is

Yes it is.

The mad mad mad venture capitalists and hype merchants are at it and it will take a big tumble soon.

This comment in Mad made me make this post:
The sense that the internet has been running ahead of itself was strongly reinforced last week when Yahoo! chief executive Terry Semel warned that the growth in online advertising was weakening. Advertising has been the backbone of almost all internet companies, so the warning from one of the biggest online media players that two of the most important advertising sectors - automotive and finance - were weakening sent shockwaves through the online world.

But lets put this into perspective. Last time (the dot com bubble) saw the web go out of fashion. Millions were lost. It was said that the web was finished and acquaintances smirked when you talked about your online business.

The PR industry turned its back on the web and now has to regret the lost opportunity.

Last year 11 million bananas were purchased online in the UK. The web is now ubiquitous.

The social media and 'web 2.0' stuff will crash. Possibly as early as this winter.

But, for the reasons made clear here, social media will thrive.

The marketing chiefs will, of course, shun these media because they will no longer be cool.

They will be wrong, but that never stopped them in the past. They will find another way to scream at punters. And, because Advertising has to change, and they will not understand, the PR opportunity will grow. That is not to say that PR does not have to change. It does.

Public Relations has to stay calm and focused and believe in itself. We build relationships and here are 14 reasons why we can be confident. Relationships out-last downturns and will even save reputations. We will achieve this by standing by our beliefs.

In the meantime, we have a great opportunity.

Think not of advertising. Its day is done. Think more of how you can introduce a willing partner in conversation to buy because your recommendation and that of other users is worth it.

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