The Rise of Conversational Media

In the past few years, the media landscape has evolved dramatically. Facing new forms of Internet-based competition driven by the combination of passionate individuals and innovative new platforms, nearly every major media company including Time Warner, Viacom, and Newscorp has executed significant shifts in strategy. Emerging from the resulting landscape is a new form of media, one we at Federated Media call Conversational Media.

Conversational Media is the evolution of formal, packaged goods media from mainstream media companies into more informal, author- and consumer-driven products. Sites like Digg and Newsvine (news), Boing Boing and Fark (hip culture), Dooce and 101 Cookbooks (womens interests), Autospies and Left Lane News (auto), and AskANinja (entertainment) encourage dialog, iteration, integrity, and community values.

Audiences are flocking to these new forms of media: the top growing sites in the Comscore 20 - YouTube, MySpace, and Wikipedia - are all conversational. More than 50 million Americans now read blogs, the conversational equivalent of newspaper columnists. And new approaches are developing on an almost daily basis.

Marketing in the Context of Conversational Media:

Conversational Marketing, FM's term for marketing in Conversational Media is an exciting new practice that engages, rather than dictates, invites rather than demands, and listens as much as talks. To market conversationally, brands and their agencies sometimes need to exercise new muscles, as well as move past some ingrained thinking about how things are done. Engaging customers in real dialog can be risky, and most brands are used to maintaining complete control over their marketing programs. To further explain Conversational Marketing and how marketers can take part in the conversations, take a minute to read “Conversational Media – A Marketing Primer”, by John Battelle.

A Few Examples of Conversational Marketing Campaigns:

• Intel and Digg partner to launch a new Digg Labs Application
• Ask A Ninja and Ask.com (Watch the episode and be sure to become a Certified Search Ninja!)
• Hakia Search For A Better Search
• Cisco Leverages Influential Technology Authors in Current UK Campaign
• HP Underwrites FM’s Graphic Arts Federation