Case in point. I was at the barber shop the other day waiting to get a haircut. The TV was on and blaring a local cable news loop, the same stories on repeat, an endless loop of the days local, regional and national breaking news events. On the table were endless copies of People and US magazines about the media personalities du jour.

And I was struck by how I was surrounded by the same one way media feed that I grew up with, and how foreign the experience had become to me. These days, and for the last several years most of my news and information had been experienced in a two way format, via the Internet. The news cast copy on the TV being read by the announcer could not have been longer that a few sentences, punctuated by video clips and still photography shots and screen freezes. I thought about it and how I digested my news, information and products on the web in blasts of one, two and three page doses. Big difference, I was getting on the average reams of relevant information that drilled down to read detail and facts, and still most of the world was getting news and data in 5-10 second sound clips.

Wow, I never thought that I was that smart. My brain has been soaking up information over the last few years like a dry sponge and there are more and more people like me coming online everyday, breaking through the old media model and experiencing a whole new way of processing the events of the world around us.

Jim Stengel is one sharp man who is really on point. The guy gets it ! He seems to have a deep understanding of the future of advertising and marketing on the web.

Having been through several high profile high paying job interviews down in New York City over the last few months I can safely say the the advertising industry (folks like the humongous holding company WPP) is adrift. There are many reasons for this, some of them I have touched on here, put the bottom line on this is that the Ad Agencies simply do not have the spine to tell their clients that the traditional world of advertising and marketing is being turned on it’s head.

I can’t image being a creative director or an account executive having the back bone to read their client the riot act, telling them that it is time to listen to the needs and desires of the customers an adapting their entire attitude to adapt. I would imagine that that is a very quick way to loose a high paying client. But this fact in nothing new, it has being evolving for a while, I personally have winced at seeing and industry (Advertising) that use to have creative, funny and compelling products become reduced to selling with baton twirling majorettes, elephants and streaming confetti.

I call this: Fear Based Creatives = No Creativity.

I have begun to note some changes in the air. Computer World recently reported on Dell finally listening to it’s customer base (rejecting bundled Vista) with their new Ideas in Action Blog as well as creating an entierly new attitude towards offering Ubuntu Linux.

Detroit’s Big Three might be starting to figure it out now that their bottom line is dropping through the floor, Toyota now being number 1. Maybe it is time to listen to what the customer wants. Do you think ?

She said: “I don’t do computers, that is why I am calling you !”

I replied: “Well, do you spend any time on the Internet ?”

“I told you, I don’t do computers”

“You mean by ‘computers’ the Internet”

“Yes, that is what I mean. Computers !”

“Madam, computers are a thing that is a box with a monitor and a keyboard, computers are not the Internet”

The phone conversation went downhill from there. She felt insulted that I would try and suggest that she delve into the Internet herself to get a feel for her market, what people were doing, what they liked, what they were looking for.

Her response ?

“Please don’t give me business advice, I have two Harvard MBA’s to do that for me.”

I said: “Well, whether or not they went to Harvard is really beside the point. This is what I do, I delve into the online market space to get a handle on your individual ‘market sphere’. The design and functionality of your website hinges on what it is you are trying to do on the web.”

“I am not doing anything on the web !”

“Then why do you have a website ?”

“My website is for credibility. I have no desire to interact with anyone through the web. I advertise in newspapers and people call me…”

I won’t go any further with the transcript of the dialogue after that, Needless to say, I declined the job. I am getting a bit exhausted with the continual education rap I have had to go through and I am done with explaining why effective search engine marketing is not only important, but essential in todays world.

I have made a decision to only work with clients who ‘get it’, or at least willing to take the plunge and learn.