Who moved my cheese? Will you adapt to social media?

I had a friend comment on one of my Facebook posts about needing to be sensitive about job losses in traditional media outlets due to the changes in behavior fueled by technology and social media. My original post was on Pepsi pulling out of the Superbowl and shifting their money to social media. My friend (rightfully so) mentioned there are many people in the entertainment industry losing jobs over the advances of technology.

The post and comment inspired more thought on what we are seeing in social media today. What is happening now is much more than than meets the eye. It is a fundamental shift in how we communicate leaving a trail of collateral damage behind as it makes its way through every industry and every aspect of our lives. People in the entertainment industry are certainly included.

If you have ever read the book "Who Moved My Cheese" this is what is happening on a grand scale. If you haven't read the book, the title speaks to how people react to change.  The changes we are experiencing today are breaking open silos of information and altering sales tactics that have existed for a very long time. Historically, successful providers of products, services, events, ideas and information were monolithic structures who wielded control over the consumer with just enough information to get them into the door.

In this model, control in the hands of the provider rewarded the provider.

Social Media and Search is Moving Your Cheese

Think about it for a minute, in the not so distant past songs were bundled into albums. Was this for the benefit of the provider or the consumer. Face it, people are easier to control when you are able to limit the amount of information they have access to and the amount of choices they can make. With the advent of search engines and social networking, the consumer is gradually gaining more control. Now you download the songs you want -- right! With this new found empowerment it might be said, the consumer is rewarded which is certainly true but the provider can be rewarded as well.

It turns out in this new model, the ones who communicate the best are the ones who are rewarded. The provider is rewarded if they do a better job of communicating to the public how their offering meets the consumer's needs. The consumer is rewarded if they put more effort into researching the offering before making a purchase or participating which helps reduce buyers' remorse. In addition, if the provider is properly using a feedback loop they will be able to listen to the consumer and correct problems thereby improve the offering and rewarding both parties.

But here is the problem, many providers are not accustomed to operating this way. They have worked just fine in their silos for years shouting to the consumer and not listening. The behavior of their customers has changed but many of them have not. Now throw onto this the "Great Recession" and a complete re-calibration of how businesses market themselves and you now have a problem. Especially in the fact that social media does not offer the clear cut ROI traditional forms of marketing have offered in the past.

So what are providers to do now that their cheese has been moved? The only thing they can do is learn, adapt, experiment and most importantly share. They need to get out of their silos and open their eyes. They need to quit rolling their eyes at Twitter and see it for a research tool as much as a branding tool. They need to setup a Facebook fan page , start a discussion in a LinkedIn group , take a class on how to write a blog and basically move themselves into the realm of reality. They don't get to put this genie back in the bottle. The longer the provider waits, the larger the gap between their brand, their competitors and the consumer becomes.

They can argue all they want that it is all a waste of time but time is what they are are running out of. They need to realize the model is changing to reward those who cultivate relationships ahead of building a brand. The gig is up - consumers are asking to be understood not be taken for granted.

As we move from the information age into the communication age, business owner's cheese has not only been moved but has been broken into a million little pieces and sprinkled all over their territory. I'd say it's a good time to take the blinders off and start looking!

What do you think?