Using consumer-generated content as an important advertising vehicle

[Kristijntje]

Both marketers and the media outlets they employ are trying to get used to a world where the audiences they reach are empowered to reach back.

...To preserve the integrity of the internet as a vast public square that enables self-expression without suffering the indignities of the untruths that are found there, advertisers need to take a level assessment of the expression and its potential implications.

Marketers need to do work if they want to participate, and they have to participate if they are going to have a future. This does not mean simply to let people post complaints or praise on a board and let the posts hang there like cobwebs in Ms. Havisham's parlor. It means talking back.

This means actually listening to what is being said and responding accordingly. Marketers and their media should not be afraid of opening their kimonos and letting audiences make comments on their looks...

full article: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/8083.asp