http://www.bubblegeneration.com/2007/11/research-note-on-selling-out-so-called.cfm
Umair Haque:
"The word consumer is nasty enough - with all the implications of helplessness and the assumption of stupidity it carries.
"Fansumer, I think, is even worse - as this commenter points out.
"It utterly - and completely - misses the point of connected consumption.
"Consumers connect with each other - not with brands.
"Which brings us to a set of deeper issues. There are foundational problems with the concepts execs are using to make sense of the next mediaconomy.
"Here's what happens when we think about "engagement": we think consumers want to be fansumers, on the assumption that they wanna connect with brands. Here's what happens when we think about "relevance": we bombard consumers with ads on the assumption that it will be good for them.
"Neither is true. (((Are you listening, ADBUSTERS?))) There is, as I've pointed out before, an existence proof confirming this: if consumers loved brands, no one would have to advertise. If consumers loved ads, firms wouldn't have to pay for them. If consumers trusted firms, brands wouldn't exist. (((Remind me again why "firms" exist.)))
"What do those simple economic truths tell us?
"There are no fansumers. There are people who love products. But very rarely will they want to be pimped out and put to work on Facebook's (or anyone else's) digital streetcorner.
"And those who want to - well, those are exactly the guys you don't want talking about you and your brands: classic adverse selection. (((Nice point. What's lower than a marketing droid – the fan of a marketing droid.)))
"So why do we keep getting it wrong?
"For my money - it's because everyone, from Forrester, to VCs, to journalists, to developers, has a huge incentive to keep buying into (and producing) the hype. And that inures all of us to a deeper understanding; we accept concepts like "engagement" and "relevance" - though they're largely meaningless and strategically vacuous. (((Off with their heads. Capitalists to the lanterne. All power to the Kelly Net-Socialist Soviets.)))
"What we really need are better foundations, concepts which reflect economic reality. And building those takes much more critical thinking - not hype. (((Boy, I'd sure love to see some of those realistic economic concepts right now. In fact, if there's a town somewhere on Earth that's using some of those, I'll move there.)))
