In an article on ClickZ today about building great brands, Tessa Wegert conflates social media (i.e. blogs, social networking sites, etc.) with online media buying. Something here doesn’t sit right with me. Is social, conversational, media in the same relm as banner ads, email, search, etc.? Is it a commodity that can be bought and sold within traditional media departments? The purpose of social media is to engage in a conversation & share things you are passionate about with the world – is that something that can be achieved with an I.O.?
I’m not convinced it could or should. It’s an art and one that is best suited to a partnership between marketing strategists, PR, tech, and media folk… and it’s not “online media” except in the loosest sense in my opinion. What do you think?
[photo credit: The Department on Flickr]
