Intelligent Thinking in Challenging Times

At this time of questions, bewilderment and fear about which direction the U.S. and global economies will take, I am heartened by the intelligent perspective of a group of thought leaders who are actively analyzing today’s online marketing and reputation management opportunities. People like Geoff Livingston, Chris Brogan, Todd Defren, David Meerman Scott, and others  To read their daily blog writing is to be part of a level-headed look into the future, and a place where creative new ideas grow.

While no one, clearly, has all the answers – as I have written in this space – what I find instead in the discussions of Brogan, Livingston, Scott and Defren is an intelligent striving for solutions, fully aware that no one size fits all, and not every one of their ideas might hit the mark.

We live and work in the Internet Age, and as Mark Cuban told me for my upcoming book, The Media Savvy Leader, “Executives have to learn how to shape information about themselves and their companies, or the Internet will do it for them, and it won’t be pretty.” My hat is off to Brogan, Livingston, Scott and Defren … and others … for their thought leadership in this area.

While they primarily focus on the evolutionary forces of social media and online viral marketing – involving Web 2.0 platforms such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, among others – I view their visionary thinking more as a beacon that illuminates the playing field, today and tomorrow. Ideas – some practical, some thought provoking – that help savvy executives to find an edge, a solution.

Livingston, for example, was writing today, “This new media world will see an even stronger focus from corporate as big ad spends get cut and marketers seek guerilla oriented tactics.” His posting today distills some of the week’s best ideas from others into more practical focus, a tremendous resource for corporate and organizational leaders who are actively seeking new strategic approaches, largely because their traditional support system – PR, advertising and marketing agencies – are so woefully lagging behind in comprehending Web 2.0 and the digital revolution.