Article: Why Social Marketing Is So Hard - (Nilofer Merchant)

Good example, below - I like to say that it's now interaction before transaction; same direction as Nilofer is saying I guess.Why Social Marketing Is So Hard - Nilofer Merchant - Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/why_social_marketing_is_so_har.html

One example is that of TED and TEDx. TED has its main conferences (TED in the US and TEDGlobal in Europe) where people with relatively big wallets gather once a year to hear smart people give short talks, creating “ideas worth spreading.” These TEDtalks get released online and allow global participants to share in the spreading of ideas. In June 2009, they announced a program called TEDx that allow many to organize their own TED-inspired conference.

By doing this, they got a benefit equivalent to a multi-million dollar marketing budget by enabling a franchise of passionate users to do their thing. Volunteers coordinated events in places as near as New Jersey and as far as Estonia. There was TEDxKibera, held in Africa’s largest shantytowns in Nairobi, Kenya. The first 2.5 years of TEDx have resulted in 2,500 events in more than 110 countries.

This is social marketing. Passionate people are co-creating because they value TED’s shared purpose. This shared purpose is not “build TED’s brand;” it’s “spread good ideas that matter.”