The unblogged enigma

Wherever you look, you see mention of the importance of blogs and their influence over consumers and multinational brands. There's analysts saying that it's now of prime importance to listen to those consumers out there in order to find out what's been said about your brand, especially through blogs.

The thing that puzzles me, is that wasn't this the whole idea from the beginning... to LISTEN to the consumer all along and not just feed them till they erupted in joy or utter distaste? Not only that, but we have known and understood for years how important WOM (word-of-mouth) is and know that there are people that are network "nodes" and "hubs" which have had an influence way before the great World Wide Web was created.

I agree that blogs are relatively new and that marketers are beginning to take note of them and hopefully pin point vital influential postings, but even before this new "tool" came about, why weren't marketers putting a good enough ear out to the consumer before?

I think we weren't in the right place with the right people. Research is very important when launching a new brand, product or service but it seems things were left out and created holes in the system which let people (some who are now bloggers) be missed.

Considering the amount of human beings out there on our confused little planet, there's many more that don't access blogs, write them or let alone know what they are, meaning that there's still an opportunity to find out who these people are and what they think. With the latest target market craze being the 45 years and up market, not many use blogs and if it's a market you are going to chase... it's a given that you should rethink your research methods and styles so that you get similar results to what the younger generation have made easier to say and hear.