One of the excellent points made in The Cluetrain Manifesto is this –

If you want to hear the sound of the new marketing, listen to these conversations coming from inside, outside, over, and above even the hardest-shelled companies that still think marketing means lobbing messages into crowds. Here is the same sound our ancestors heard in those ancient marketplaces, where people spoke for themselves about what mattered to them.

Is There Room in the New Marketing Era for Old Techniques?

There’s an enormous amount of truth in this, but as usual, Cluetrain overstates the case. I’ve never been in an ancient marketplace myself, but I have been in a number of flea markets and open markets here and abroad. I’d say the bargaining that goes on there is an exercise in ritualized insincerity.

More important, there are situations when lobbing a message into the crowd is exactly what is called for. Case in point – RSS technology. RSS is the most underutilized technology tool in business today. It’s the greatest invention since sliced bread. RSS gives companies the ability to deliver fresh information to people easily, cheaply, and immediately. RSS saves customers the hassle of visiting a company’s web site or blog. RSS ensures that customers receive all the news a company puts out. RSS inspires customer conversations.

But when I talk RSS to clients outside the tech sector, I get blank stares.

RSS needs a blimp. It needs a skywriting campaign, billboards, infomercials, press releases, and celebrity endorsements. Somebody needs to lob an RSS hand grenade into the agora.

Viral marketing is powerful, but not all powerful. Awareness campaigns are cool with me if they promote a product or service that has value. What do you think – is there room in the new marketing era for old marketing techniques?

Further reading -

Joe Ponnou explains the what, how, and why of RSS in plain language.

Just out – a summary of RSS benefits from Cengal.

More RSS benefits, and helpful links, from Internet Strategy Blog, including one of my favorite RSS benefits – it’s free.