Way back in 2004 or 2005, I first recall coming across the concept of the ChangeThis Manifesto. It’s a concept that was first envisioned by Seth Godin as a way for passionate change agents to share their beliefs in a simple, straightforward medium. Seth and his original team created ChangeThis, a collector and distributor of killer ideas. I cannot recall which manifesto I read first, but I do remember printing off about a dozen and reusing and spreading many of the concepts that I came across. And I was immediately convinced that I had to write my own ChangeThis Manifesto someday. However the folks who run the organization are very selective, and only publish four to five manifestos per month. I decided to try to submit one around the concept of my book, while taking it in a different direction. Well, I’m proud to say that last week I achieved this goal!
For my manifesto, I chose to focus on the topic of “Meaningful Digital Strategy.” My book, The Next Evolution of Marketing, is very manifesto-like, of course, but it is a concept that includes all marketing, from digital to out-of-home to events. But I felt the need to use this soapbox as a way to focus specifically on digital. There are a few reasons for this: First, it’s what I focus on almost daily as the strategy leader at digital agency Bridge Worldwide.
But there is a second, bigger reason that I focused the manifesto on digital marketing. Frankly, I believe digital marketing is at a fork in the road, and we in the business must choose which direction we’re going to go. On one hand, there are those in the industry who believe we must adapt to the traditional, interruptive, eyeball-counting ways of the current marketing and media paradigm. They believe we can win by siphoning off TV dollars with more banners and video pre-roll.
On the other hand, a handful of us want to use the consumer/media revolution as a chance to elevate digital into something more meaningful. We want to make advertising something that people choose to engage with, and marketing that itself improves people’s lives. We love the chance to use this deeply engaging medium to help people make important decisions, have fun with friends, and maybe even change the world for the better.
So I present my ChangeThis Manifesto: Meaningful Digital Strategy, in handy 12-page quick-read form. Let me know what you think and if you like what you read and want more, check out the full book version. And if you are looking for more great ChangeThis Manifestos, I highly recommend:
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