- Fluid'Advance – by Brieuc Saffré : Web, Advertising, Photo… by Brieuc

I read a very interesting text written by Alex Bentley and Mark Earls about the marketing theories and their evolution with social media. I found this text a few weeks ago on 180 360 720 but I did not take the time to read it before today. I will remind particulary these ideas :

- « Pull and not push« , yes, now, people participate that’s the difference with all we know before with previous mass media. We already saw this kind of idea with Helge Tenno and especialy the change from « mass media » to « my Media ».

- « Copying is our species’ number one learning and adaptive strategy » say the authors, and this is true for ages. Independant thinking is not our speciality, the reference to Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahnemann is particulary relevant.

- There are 2 kinds of copying, you have the randoom copying that they consider like a continual and uncouncious process, it gives you ideas, it influences you but you consider this like your own reflexion. You have « directed copying » which is more conscious and can make part of your life, for example, the parents give some habits that the children can adopt like political opinions, way of cooking… All that are considered as « experts ».

For me, this model with the 2 kinds of copying is quite relevant, I mean it clearly joins the social media and the community spread that we can know nowadays with Facebook and all its friends.

This text make me thing about the « swarm theory » developped by DDB worldwide CEO, Chuck Brymer. Indeed, this theory, we admit that there is no leadership but active and passive communities that the brands must integrate. They shouldn’t stand outside of them and continue their unique way of communication (the brand >> everybody where the brand is still above everyone…). Everyone must participate and the brand is now considered as another member of the community. I think these both theories complete themselves very well.

I think that the best recent example that illustrate these theories is Carlsberg. The brand took the way of communicating of Mentos (copying) to integrate itself to the community (the young people).

The text is available here.