By now you may understand that my vision on social media is somewhat different than is to be expected from someone who makes a decent living with it.
I see it as a tool, a method that makes the actual job easier and more efficient. During the golden years of television, there was advertising. It was usually a way for one way communication towards the masses. It treated everyone the same.
As many of you know, demand creates supply, but often supply creates demand as well. Advertising played both these fields quite successfully. It was about giving you what you wanted and making you want certain things. No wonder there were accusations of manipulation and consumerism.
The economic importance of advertising and the debate about its morality lead to some very valuable research.
Meanwhile there were those people who rebelled against the idea of mass-consumption and unquestioned advertising. It was the beginning of consumer activism. Child labor, environmental destruction, unethical advertising… It was no longer tolerated.
The digital generation grew up in this world. They have access to a world of mass consumption and are bombarded with advertising. This has lead to skepticism and a certain degree of immunity for marketing BS. Those who are naive are quickly educated, either by experience, the government or pressure groups. The new consumer has arrived and he won’t be manipulated all that easily.
Members of that generation founded new companies, developed new marketing strategies and have shifted the way companies view consumers. At least, those companies a bit ahead of the curve.
That new approach is not new at all. It is the same approach advocated in small businesses for hundreds or even thousands of year. Care about your customers.
That is my job. And I’m damn proud of it.