Direct engagement is born of necessity as consumers find their voice. Thirty years ago, disgruntled buyers could do little more than scratch out their righteous indignation in a letter to the local paper, throwing themselves on the mercy of the editorial court. Today, social media is the great amplifier. Consider a controversial advertising campaign for Motrin, launched in late 2008. Twitter users voiced their objection to the ads’ portrayal of mothers, using microblogging and YouTube videos to get their point across (http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=132622), as shown in Figure 11-1. Motrin killed the campaign and apologized (www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/16/flash-flood-mom-bloggers-and-motrin/).

Figure 11-1. When communities strike back: the Motrin Moms viral video

In a connected world, an angry mob forms in an instant, undermining millions of dollars and thousands of hours of work. If you’re not trying to engage customers directly, you can be blind to—or blindsided by—an online movement that fundamentally changes your business.

A happy community, on the other hand, rewards you with free marketing and positive word of mouth. Businesses that understand this fundamental shift are connecting directly with their markets through communities and social media, abandoning formal messages and rigid hierarchies in favor of dynamic interactions at all levels of the organization. Marketing is a dialogue, sometimes in the extreme: Skittles went so far as to replace its website with a Twitter feed showing mentions of its candy, effectively turning its brand over to its customers.

How did we get here?