The Cluetrain Manifesto...Lest it be forgotten

What I'm about to tell you is nothing new, but if you haven't heard about it yet, it will change your world - guaranteed!

It's a document called 'The Cluetrain Manifesto'. Although it was first posted back in the dark ages (1999) it is still a document that any company executive, marketeer or sales person simply MUST read.

It starts like this:

"If you only have time for one clue this year, this is the one to get...

We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. We are human beings - and our reach exceeds your grasp. Deal with it."

If you haven't read it: www.cluetrain.com/

What makes The Cluetrain Manifesto so relevant - even seven years after it was first posted, is this:
a) It is written from the consumer's point of view - without any marketing lingo, statistics or self-absorbed analysis to block our view. It says what we as consumers (for we as marketeers are consumers too)think and feel about the way in which companies and brands communicate with us.
b) It is the strongest unspoken plea for the power of Word-of-Mouth marketing to date.

As marketeers, we can do, say or package things any way we want to, but if we don't connect with our consumers in a real and believable manner, if we don't make sure that we actually care about our consumers and the society our company operates in, then no matter how pretty our packaging or how slick our advertising, people will tell each other what they really think about the company, the brand, the product,...and it may not be pretty.

We must learn to recognize the unbelievable power of what people tell each other about our brand & product. We can try to 'harness', 'capture', 'influence' these conversations, but that will never really change what people say about us. What we need to do instead is contribute to these conversations - in an open, respectful and believable manner. Only then will people begin to really value our brand.

Food for thought...