Catherine Taylor of Social Media Insider makes a point that no marketer should ignore. In her observation of the mommy blogger summit Blogher she notes that brands are building relationships with influencers rather than running ads.
Money quote:
“I’m going to quote a competitor to Mediapost, Advertising Age, but its packaged-goods reporter, Jack Neff, said it best: [...]

I’ve taken a bit of a blogging break due to moving and taking on a big project for an area business organization. However both of these activities have got me thinking about a few things that are very relevant to the conversational marketing theme I’ve been exploring.
Craiglist, local marketing and how it changes the landlord [...]

The conversational marketing model is not really new at all, vis a vis Seth Godin and many others, but it is a major change: When we buy, we discuss the choices with friends and, as Godin points out, we have a lot more friends because of social media. If I’m buying an LED monitor, I’ll [...]

As you might know from my rant about firing your ad agency, I think the agency business model is broken and that social media is the nail in the coffin. In the interest of offering something positive, I’m going to explore a few of the issues and opportunities that social media offers agencies enlightened enough [...]