We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.

I’ve recently come across a fascinating book The Cluetrain Manifesto – only I haven’t read the book yet – I’ve simply looked at the website which was published before the book!

It’s quite a provocative read suggesting that we are in the midst of a business revolution that will quickly dispose of traditional management and marketing models! The website begins with a summary:

A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter — and getting smarter faster than most companies.

Later it restates it more punchily:

“We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers .. we are human beings … and our reach exceeds your grasp. DEAL WITH IT”

The website sets out the 95 clauses of the Manifesto.  As usual I summarise for you some of the key messages below. If you are interested in reading more click here for the book or click here for the website!

Markets are conversations. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media. People are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.

Markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. People have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. 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.

Smart markets find suppliers who speak their own language. To speak with a human voice, companies must belong to a community and share its concerns. If the business isn’t speaking in the community it isn’t in the market.

We are immune to advertising. Just forget it. If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a change. Our allegiance is to ourselves—our friends, our allies and acquaintances, even our sparring partners. Companies that are not part of our world have no future.

We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting!