Time 18:10

Alleluia the Mass Market is alive and well, we have rediscovered the masses. This is good news for all those companies that watched their mass market target disperse like cockroaches when you turn on the lights. Now the bad news, the path to reach them is through 1 percent of the people that participate on-line in social media – content creators, commenters, and communities. In this podcast, we chat with Jackie Huba, co-author of two books Citizen Marketer and Creating Customer Evangelists, about reaching the One Percenters as Huba calls them, and how they are the new gatekeepers to the mass market.

Huba is a keynote speaker at the NewComm Forum, a three day conference, April 20-23 in San Mateo, California, full of interesting learning about the application of social strategies in business, non-profit, and government, and as always excellent networking. As a listener and reader of the Marketing Edge podcast and blog use the promo code NCFPPP to receive a $200 savings if you register by March 12.

One of the interesting parts of this conversation with Huba is when she refers to social media as the “canary in the coal mine” for many companies. Huba is on the money with this metaphor. I associate this idea to political communications, a place where rumor can become perceived as fact fast. Political communicators are indeed accustomed to this position, I was in the national political environment for a decade. The speed of information puts an enormous burden on corporate communications to be tuned in 24/7 and on the corporate communications process (by that I mean approvals and empowerment) to be efficient in reacting to unfolding events.

Enjoy this podcast and use the promo code NCFPPP when registering for the NewComm Forum. Huba’s blog along with co author Ben McConnell is the Church of the Customer an interesting read as well.

How are you approaching the One Percenters? Do you think they are gatekeepers to the mass market, or do you approach them as market segments, separate communities similar to market segments?

Re-Tweet Shout Outs

I had fun last night during #brandbowl Twitter’s conversation about ads during the Super Bowl. Thanks to stephaniethum , shashib , and tkpleslie for advancing the conversation about when we’ll have television advertising created on the fly based on social conversations. It won’t be long now I’m guessing.

Remember comments to the blog result in a food item being donated to a St. Paul, MN food shelter. Your opinions matter.