“To succeed, we need to stop standing between them (consumers) and their content and actually be the content they want to see.

When it comes to video, advertisers and agencies need to focus their energies on producing content that has sufficient appeal to attract, engage, and retain the consumers with whom they hope to build lasting relationships.”

Greg Verdino
Crayon

“The Web has been tragically misunderstood when people labeled it a publishing medium. It is a performance medium: publishing mediums are static, and do not change over time; performances are dynamic and collaborative and iterative.

Because there was this intrinsic misperception of the role of people and time in what the Internets are, we keep discovering things that we think are just so unique about the medium.

It is like declaring that your dog is a cat, but not just that ... the first ever cat that barks, howls, wags its tail and fetches!”

“... I think that a big reason consumer-goods companies have been slow to adopt digital marketing is that it is so direct and immediate and personal when it comes to dealing with consumers. Most of these companies have built and sustain their market advantages not on being more preferred by consumers, but by being more efficient at manufacturing or distribution, or by having more and greater pricing leverage with distributors and retailers.

Many times, the true effectiveness of consumer-goods advertising in driving the business has more to do with its impact on those intermediaries during contract negotiations than on its ultimate impact on consumers.”

Dave Morgan
Executive Vice President, Global Advertising Strategy
AOL
Via MediaPost

“Dear Jeff Bezos, Amazon is asleep at the wheel. Ebay, You should have been vBay 24 months ago. Craig Newmark, Do you know you own a TV network?

... Guys - you’re blowing it. Ecommerce.  Dating.  Auctions.  Comedy.  Community.  Branding.  News. Politics. It’s all about User-Generated Video. There’s a sea-change happening.  And the leaders in the web aren’t on it.  Amazon. Ebay.  Craigslist. Guys, time to get in the game.  Heck - even NBC beat you - how crazy is that?

Your community has a Video Voice, empower it and embrace it, or ignore it at your peril.”

Steve Rosenbaum
CEO
Magnify.net

Commenting on Google’s recent “YouTube Videocracy” event in NYC…

“Google made a good investment. Just a few years after launch, the platform has radically changed the media consumption ecosystem. Unlike other acquisitions in the space, YouTube provides value to the end user like no other platform does. The democratization of video consumption and creation might not thrill the big networks, but it is here to stay.”

Sara Holoubek
via DM News

Because people have developed trust, they are communicating as open human beings and making connections. Twitter, Second Life, Facebook, etc. are all just conduits and catalysts for this rather wholesome process. Don’t worry about the purpose, or getting it right (there are better approaches, but just play a bit; you don’t even have to be yourself… people will help you along). 

You really can’t screw it up too bad because how the platforms are used will be radically different from person to person. Like Second Life—just stop mass marketing.  Start creating or sponsoring wholesome and good things and let nature take its course.  Evangelists, fans and friends will form if you are just receptive and make an investment into the people. Loosen up—let them have control.”

Wayne Porter
Social Media & Security Researcher
Co-Founder Revenews.com