Futurist Says Marketers Need to Embrace Social Media
I always imagined a futurist to be someone peering into a crystal ball trying to look ahead even as he kept a cup at his side for donations. German native Gerd Leonhard debunked all those notions, first he looked more like Tom Jones than a gypsy and the masterful ease in which he presented the information placed him ahead of the curve on bottom line data affecting industries from music to media and technology. Indeed in his lecture at the Hilton Hotel today he touched on the convergence of all three.
Music
“Kids now only listen to music, they don’t download it,’ Leonhard said. Access has become an important factor and that is why recording industry in the United States is one of the most despised. “Instead of relinquishing control, they’ wanted to seize it for fear of revenue loss'."
Leonhard pointed to the new developments in music that not only turn issues of copyright and intellectual property upside down but point scrooge like fingers to the hard fact that new business models are required for the industry that viewed itself as king and the consumers as subjects.
Leonhard added that there were several ways the recording label can generate revenue in the new digital age. “Labels can sell stuff around music. Tickets, merchandising, posters, books, things like that and companies can sponsor a music community and effectively reach the right group of people.” Moreover, Leonhard point out an interesting difference with today’s advertising: “Consumers skip television ads, but they will listen to a sponsor message when they get free music in return”. All this is linked to the fact that few consumers want to pay for music, they prefer to click to get it.
Media
Leonhard stopped short of saying that traditional media was dead preferring to hint traditional thinking was state of mind whose biggest limitation was a lack of creativity.
He challenged marketers and communicators to dive into Web 2.0 by tinkering around with widgets and embracing social media sites like You Tube, My Space, Flikr, Twitter etc... You Tube, he said could be the next News Corp and Twitter the next New York Times. While that may be some time off, what we are witnessing today is a drastic departure from the old days of top-down TV culture to one that allows for consumer participation and self expression. “We are no longer content with being consumers of media, we actually want to be part of it, influence it, change it and yes even create it,” explained the futurist.
Marketing
Here is the conundrum for marketers; how to get the attention of the now all powerful consumers in a noisy and fragmented market place? Leonhard gave the following tips that were brilliant because of their simplicity. I took note of them because they can be easily implemented as part of any strategy. He advised marketers to:
· Make open communications a must
· Shift marketing online to video, social networks and mobile media
· Maximise Google juice; it is crucial to digital branding
· Ensure the customer experience online is seamless and engaging.
· Capture metrics and data
· Make content free or customers will click your company into oblivion.
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Judette Coward Puglisi (MSc, Dip IR, BA), Managing Director. Find out more 
btw --- the correct name is Leonhard not leohard -- ;)))
Great to have you on here, Mango Media Caribbean's first celebrated blogger or should that be celebrity blogger? I enjoyed tremendously your presentation at the Trinidad Hilton, we need to get you back here at least once a year.
Thanks for the link as well.
That way you have the juice to quantify measurable results.
I don't know of any client or executive who dislikes hearing: "We increased mind share by 65% or subscription jumped by 10 % or we enjoy top of mind awareness now among 50% of our target market.
You get the drift Corey. Folks are often afraid to try new things, still go ahead and persist if your research or even your gut tells you. Ask for a small budget to do something differently and hopefully if you are proven right, they'll be blown away by the results.