Buzz Marketing

I've been working on a presentation about Web 2.0 for the last while, and wondered if anyone had any insights as to what they think Web 2.0 means. Extensive research is pointing very much to the power of new participatory Internet us, and there are sites out there specifically to discuss the topic, (when they can agree what it is). But my question is, what does all of this mean for Internet advertising?

We already advertise extensively on MySpace, YouTube, and Bebo, and work closely with Google moving with the developments in pay per click and placement and we do ongoing viral and buzz marketing for some clients (it doesn't suit everyone yet), but I feel that this way of getting a clients message out there has only just begun.

The seed in this country, was Bebo. Suddenly, every kid could have their own website, and swarms of these gathered around the concept of schools and colleges. In a year there were 500,000 users of Bebo. The consumer had definitely caught up with business when it came to web development and activity, and passed them out.

But now, I think the sheen has gone off Bebo. It is still as popular and effective an advertising medium as ever mind. More so in fact. We've been optimising our spend accross a range of websites, and those, including Bebo, are continuing to improve month on month. No, I just think the faddishness has gone out of it. Viral campaigns abound now, and use YouTube and Bebo as their communication medium, their channel, rather than advertising specifically to users of these sites. Shamrog City, for Funda, is a great example. A great idea, carried out well, with fantastic results. This has been reported in all media, a first for the web I think. TV, radio, press and trade magazines, and lauded by all as a turning point in Internet advertising. NB helped seed this creative throughout the web, on video sites like YouTube, blogs, bulletin boards and everywhere else that such a concept can be linked. We learnt a lot, and its been fun.

Quo Vadis? Where to now? Well. I think this type of conversational activity and marketing is where. Where it leads us? Who knows... but we're going anyway.