“You” Again

The 203-acre, 24,000 seat Verizon Wireless Music Center in Indiana is up for sale. No news there, large concert venues have passed their maturation points, expensive ticket sale volumes continue to decline and property alongside the stretch of interstate the music center abuts is in demand. Yawn.

But as I read the Indystar.com article detailing the news, suddenly, there “You” were again (See: Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Award). Right there in the middle of the Indystar article:

Musical acts once needed the clout of major labels to pull off anything larger than regional club tours. Now, because of Web sites such as Purevolume.com and MySpace.com, bands can book and promote their own national tours with little more than a broadband Internet connection and the will to send thousands of e-mails.

Yet another industry example of how “You” are changing the face of commerce one peer assessment at a time—by the millions.

“You” Are Changing

As you consider your next online initiative, product or service launch consider this: Over 50% of MySpace users are over 35 years of age. It’s naive and difficult to imagine a product or service that is not affected in some way by the onslaught of modern-day online social networking.

Spend some time understanding the inherent market share opportunities—and dangers—in these trends. From design to content and methodology, it’s important to embrace tactical marketing and business strategies aimed at capitalizing on this paradigm shift in buying habits. Call it, “You,” “Web 2.0,” “social networking,” or whatever you like—but facing down public opinion is no way to run your railroad.

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