Brands should proceed with caution when using social media like blogging. Social media demand that brands trade control for influence in the conversation. Unless brands are comfortable with less control, they should just listen to the social media conversation instead of directly participating. Brands only have a role if they can make the conversation more interesting by contributing without traditional advertising.

1. Brands and 2.0 Proceed with caution

2. Brands and blogging don’t enjoy a marriage made in heaven

3. Blogging changes the writer’s behaviour more than it changes the readers’ behaviour

4. If your brand is going to blog you need to understand what you want to change about it

5. This is uncomfortable because brands usually like changing consumer behaviour not the other way round

6. There are no ‘old’ or ‘new’ media – there are communications media and social media

7. Communications media are the natural habitat of brands

8. Their use of social media is problematic

9. Social media demand that you trade control for influence

10. Unless brands are happy with this they should stay out of social media

11. Just use it to listen to the conversation

12. Social media is all about conversation

13. Brands only have a role if they can make the conversation more interesting

14. Advertising can’t succeed against the conversation but it can influence and contribute to the conversation

15. The social media gurus bang on about the stupidity of advertising but really it is a criticism of media

16. Creative agencies must free themselves from media - they are content creation companies

17. And increasingly content co-creation companies

18. Media neutrality must mean just that – we shouldn’t care where our content appears

19. Maybe media agnostic would be a better term

20. Media is only interesting as content distribution vehicle. And increasingly it will be free to use.

21. Social media can’t be measured so lets stop trying

22. We have to get comfortable with managing the immeasurable

23. Lets face it the truth is that all good advertising is a leap of faith

24. Only poor advertising is predictable