The third speaker at the Critical Issues Forum is Pete Blackshaw, EVP at Nielsen Online Strategic Services and founder of WOMMA. You can find Nielsen’s report on Consumer Generated Media here. Mind you, I’m paraphrasing, and Twittering at the same time:
- The “conversation” is a long-term strategy. I’ve learned consumers express themselves for things way beyond what marketers think
- I’m disappointed not to see the PR industry talk more about customer service. My new book talks about the drivers of brand credibility: trust, authenticity, transparency, listening “look in the mirror and call your 800 number,” and affirmation
- Media planners have to think about the allocation of ad dollars. PR community needs to be an arbitrator in this allotment
- CGM is the fasted indexed information on the web
- Hostile reviews sit on the prime shelf space online
- PR still has control. You can’t just pull off the shelf the old tricks. As marketers we tend to screw things up. Let’s not mess up the conversation. Ultimately show respect for this new communication.
