Imedia's interview with Denuo's Rishad Tobaccowala today is a breath of fresh air on many topics but nails two important shifts in responsibility for Marketers as they discover what to do (provide customers access, participation, and empowerment), "...The No. 1 question is, 'How do I do what I should do?'":1) The new "CFO" - "We need to basically organize the facilitation," Tobaccowala says. "We need to have chief facilitation officers." Rather than spending their time crafting messages, marketers should be spending their time helping consumers gain access to companies and their resources -- thereby making it easy for consumers to market to themselves.
2) Get the best to build - As you design the solutions that the future will demand, give the production side to state-of-the-art technology developers. "In a fast-changing world, why do you want to vertically integrate?" he says. "The internet is about eventually connecting the best of breed."
So, my Five Ws:
Who = Creative Technologists are your friend
What = Web properties that engage and give an ROI
Where = Integrated throughout your media and company
When = Ahead of your competitors...
Why = See "When"
Let's talk about HOW...
This is another positive angle on my Duct Tape on Concrete post.
The thing I am talking about a lot is the deep technology programming needed to manage New Media and the new consumer. There is massive processing going on in the server rooms at smart companies. I posted about it last summer – see Duct Tape on Concrete.
Now we can discuss these two elements of your customer interaction plans:
Front End = All the bright, shiny, valuable, engaging stuff
Back End = The hard stuff that makes it all work