Forget Web 2.0, Try Web 4.0: An Interview with Larry Weber

Larry Weber, chairman and CEO of W2 Group, a marketing services organization focused on digital constituency management, and author of Marketing to the Social Web, recently joined us to discuss whats coming down the pike for marketers and the Web in 2008.

ITSMA: Larry, you’ve said that you believe that almost half the money that’s currently being spent on television advertising is going to shift to the Web in 2008. Tell us, why now?

Weber: First, let me give you a little context. I don’t believe we’re in Web 2.0—that happened back in 1994 with the advent of the browser. Really, the first phase of the Web started in the late ’80s when Tim Berners-Lee invented the thing, and then, in ‘94, we got the browser, which gave birth to the dot-com companies—the Yahoos, Amazons, and Googles of the world. Then, in about ‘97, we entered the third phase: the social Web. Remember software user groups? They marked the start of the social computing/social media stage of the Web, which brings together people with similar interests. Since the ’90s, of course, the tools and platforms have gotten richer and deeper and better, but we’ve been playing with this stuff for the better part of a decade now.

The fourth phase of the Web—the emotive Web—is what we’re just starting to enter now: the marriage of broadband and rich media. What makes Web 4.0 emotive are the personal and business sensations, the idea that experiences offer not only emotions—happiness, curiosity, sadness, etc.—but also a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. In terms of the individual’s control of and demand for words, images, and audio, the emotive Web is far beyond television or anything that has ever existed. So now, with the emergence of the emotive Web, people with similar interests cannot only come together on the Web, but they’ll become emotionally engaged with the content on those sites and the people on those sites and the hosts or sponsors of those sites—you!

So, yeah, I do believe that 2008 will be the year where the ad dollars really shift to community building and social media. Ultimately, all paid media is going to drive people to digital sites and digital communities—the more targeted, the better. My guess is that 80% of the ads aired during the Super Bowl this year will have no content; their purpose will be to drive people to a digital destination where the content and the community live. Email me if I’m wrong.

ITSMA: Where do you see marketing going in the future?

Weber: Marketing today isn’t about talking at customers and prospects; it’s about creating and engaging with communities. I’ll give you an example. A pharmaceutical company brought me in a while back to talk about how they could get going with social media. The product marketing manager for a new drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) came to me and said that she had a $50 million budget but didn’t seem to be getting much traction with her advertising in magazines like Cosmo, People, and O, The Oprah Magazine. So I asked her, “How many people are diagnosed with MS each year?” and she said 15,000. We did a little math on the back of an envelope and figured out that, for the money this company was sinking into advertising this drug, we could buy every woman diagnosed with MS in this country a new Mercedes and a chauffeur to drive her to a doctor who would personally answer all her questions about the disease. So why not set aside a couple million bucks to buy a list of the people who have MS and then build a thoughtful online community for them that provides information about and support around their disease? That’s how you’re going to engage the people who are material to your success, not with some ad in a magazine.

So what does the future hold? Within the next couple of years, I believe that everyone is going to belong to a mix of different online communities. One person could belong to a religious community, a community for people with diabetes, one for Red Sox fans, whatever. It’s all going to be these super-focused communities with tons of interactive, rich media and user-generated content. We won’t really talk about marketing as an industry anymore; media will be the industry, and the best marketers will be the ones creating the best content.

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