Ecosystems outlast organisms
I recently read a blog post by Seth Godin entitled
“Cities don’t die (but corporations do)”
In this post Godin introduced the concept of “control” and the “fringes” where the big difference between corporations and cities is level of control. I read this as Central control and testing failure at the fringes. Godin remarks that corporations fear failure and legislate behaviour this leads us to imagine a strangulation to the point of conformity so that all activity is rigid and focussed. This mitigates risk and provides the c-suite with a reassuring feeling that their company is doing well and is in safe hands. On the other hand cities are far less regulated and try to keep control by prohibiting actions that might jeopardise the safety of residents. However within cities failure is accepted and often encouraged at the fringes where risk is low and learning’s can benefit the central mass.
Social media campaigns can be looked at in the same way. If we take the recent launch for Krave by Kellogg’s it can be seen that negative conversation drove positive trail and then resulted in purchasing.
Perhaps, we should not be too precious over sentiment and let instead gently guide communities in the right direction. This would make communities feel more naturally inclined to debate and defend the brand and give the ‘Social Eco-system’ room to grow organically.
Campaigns might be Organisms but brands need to be Eco-Systems.
