post note: This is posted on the media blog (link to the right here) but the trend point makes more sense here as it is something I have watched and considered for a long time.
Choice is an obvious general trend that reflects how the nature of demand for content is changing because of the digital environment after a very long time, (centuries?), of the opposite circumstances through the various media. It has always helped me to see Choice as a very large social pivot point relative to technology and content; affecting our use of media in many ways. Social shows us it goes beyond scheduling and will have more dynamics to express. Add the context of changing social mood and the potential for this trend to impact commerce broadly and in ways not previously imagined is worth noting. That stated, what follows is purely my opinion.
About-Face
Does your business sell advertising to generate revenue?
Is that dynamic creating a conflict with primary customers in order to serve
secondary customers? Who are your primary customers, exactly? Are they
consumers or other businesses?
The time has come to make clear distinctions between customers, their needs
and values, and secondary constituencies.
Why now?
The market dynamic that can be called Choice has taken us here along with
social mood. The long era of broadcast effectively began closing with the
advent of digital networks of connected people. The result, the market
dynamic I call Choice, will now increasingly require a distinction to be
made by enterprises. This would not be necessary in a world without Choice.
Businesses will not change to mirror this overnight but because the nature
of some transactions has changed forever, we are now slowly moving to this
end.
The consistent expression of Choice will be impacted by social mood and
result in changes to commerce requiring many new kinds of specialization.
So, the question is likely: which customer will you decide to face down and
which will you serve by aligning your world view (and actions) with theirs?
The need to ask this question is new because just as the times change, so
does how we value things and ideas of all kinds. Choice will eventually
require a decision by content oriented enterprises (and others too) that
have multiple kinds of customers with conflicting demands. Glossy ideals
about anticipating digital customer's needs better will be re-framed inside
of this new movement. (It may seem early for this larger trend but, it is
morning.)
To truly know your primary customer and to engage them in a manner that
serves you both well, requires trust be established and maintained without
the help of legalese. Choice will, in the changing light of shared social
values, force businesses to make important distinctions.
In coming years markets will demand that enterprises choose which customer
to face. There will be opportunity and limitations in either choice because
this is a fundamental change that will shape other decisions and business
dynamics.
If the choices your enterprise makes puts it at odds with the primary
customers then,
About-Face!
This first era of social reaction in the digital age will be different than
many expect but do not think this is an argument about one kind of company.
The digital ecosystem will interact with changing social perceptions and shared values to force incremental & ongoing specialization upon the entire business model.
Last thought: on the media blog, I posted this under the trending category, "permission and accountability". Consider that a primary thread developing inside of Choice.
current links in this thread of trending after the jump...Last add 11 16 11
LA Times: Advertisers have their hands (called cookies) in your browser
Huff Post: Unthink, the anti-Facebook wants to free you from social media dictatorship
lots of theories out there seemingly try to grasp the basic nature of "smaller units of association" but few last for very long and then must re-vector. Good social forecasts build from the group behavior impulses and those are expressed through social mood and best seen at larger turns in mood. If you do not subscribe (I do), the latest issue of the Socionomist is a great entry point to see the big picture of socila trending.
ABC news 11 16 11 a good current discussion about how this is viewed by different constituentcies. The conversation is only beginning because so little is clear about actual everyday practices by companies watching over their customers. Interesting to note in this link is how one source comments how this has been done for ten years as if that justifies it. If you take only one social trending point away from this blog it should be this: How we value things and ideas of all kinds changes as social mood changes.
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