Fresh Chat

Ten years ago a book called The Cluetrain Manifesto was written by, Chris Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger.

They challenged what we knew about marketing.

At the time I read the Manifesto I had no idea it would transform the industry, the roles within it and the skillset but more importantly mindset it required.

Of the 95 Theses they wrote I have selected 10 of my favourites:

1. Markets are conversations.

2. The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.

3. There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone

4.Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman

5.Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.

6.Companies attempting to “position” themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about.

7.Elvis said it best: “We can’t go on together with suspicious minds.”

8.The community of discourse is the market.

9.There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.

10.We want access to your corporate information, to your plans and strategies, your best thinking, your genuine knowledge. We will not settle for the 4-color brochure,
for web sites chock-a-block with eye candy but lacking any substance.

What is your favourite Theses?