From Word of Mouth to Web 2.0

Whether you are closely or loosely related to the advertising industry, you are most likely to have been bitten by the WEB 2.0 bug and the hoopla surrounding it. If you have your finger in the WEB 2.0 pie, “Tipping point” is where you start using it! Malcolm Gladwell puts forward possibly the best way to understand the dramatic transformation of a fashion faux-pas into a trend setter.

I can never get over UGG boots (appropriately named) and how everyone from Pamela Anderson to Lola Kutty to Yellow Monk owned a pair.

You can't possibly be an swanky advertiser if you don't know what the terms “Maven” or “Connector” mean. And you can't possibly be the CEO of a swanky advertising agency if you in the flesh are not one of the two! (Maybe I should call my blog The Yellow Maven for starters! ;) 

But while I was turning through the final pages of the book, the only thing that struck me was the acute similarity between the laws of word of mouth epidemics and the freshest, fanciest “it” word Web 2.0. 

My read was followed by another. Chris Anderson's The Long Tail. The natural and technological successor to the above. The book that possibly killed 'mass' culture and gave hope to enthusiasts who believe that Guantanamo Bay Punk Rock is not a myth but a real Genre of music! I happened to read the two back to back without realizing that I had just begun to wet my appetite!

Long tail is by far the best predecessor to O'Reilly's WEB 2.0 - the term that I predict will forever transform the way any advertiser or marketeer thinks! If I could bottle the blood of some tech and marketing pundits, Tim would definitely be on my top 5 list.

I would largely recommend to buy, borrow or steal the lot together and read not necessarily in that order.

PS: And as a tribute to Mr Tim O'Reilly, I am typing this post on Open Office! Currently testing it for integration in my organization and looking forward to kicking Microsoft's monopolistic derriere! :)