Living in a Digital World: An Interview with W2 Group’s Larry Weber

Larry Weber, chairman and CEO of W2 Group, a next-generation marketing services organization focused on digital constituency management, recently sat down with ITSMA to discuss the future of marketing and how to survive in a digital world.

ITSMA: As the founder of Weber Shandwick, you grew the company into the largest technology PR firm in the world and then the largest PR firm in the world, period. What made you decide to leave and start W2?

Weber: My main interest in business has always been innovation and growth. I founded The Weber Group in 1987 and, by the time I left in 2004, it had been acquired by Interpublic and become the largest PR firm in the world. Id done all I could do there.

Also, about two years ago, the management and Board at Interpublic asked me to analyze the next five to ten years of the marketing services industry—what’s going to happen, where’s the money going to be spent, those kinds of questions. So I met with about 200 different companies and put together a report that laid out the coming trends in marketing. One of the huge trends I saw was the increasing impact of the unpaid side of the Internet, which at the time meant blogs. Blogs! I thought the executives at Interpublic were going to laugh me out of the room! But it became clear to me that the traditional model of marketing was about to be inverted, and I saw a big opportunity to be an innovation leader in the new world of marketing. That’s why I formed W2.

ITSMA: When you say that the traditional marketing model is about to be inverted, how do you see that playing out?

Weber: In the 60 years of modern marketing, I believe that there have only been two real phases, and we’re just starting to move into a third. The first was the broadcast, or one-way, phase—”we’re going to shove this message down your throat.” The second phase, direct marketing, started in the early 1980s and over time evolved into one-to-one marketing. But do we really have to know everything about you to sell you something? I don’t think so.

The third phase, the one we’re just entering now, hinges around the idea of community-based marketing. This phase is based on the fact that people have various points of interest, and they gravitate toward others who share those interests. The points of interest can be anything: a profession, a health issue, a sports team, and so on. These interest-based communities are gathering together now more than ever because of the Internet.

With the rise of the social Web, traditional marketing techniques like advertising and direct campaigns are moving to the periphery. Customers are skeptical, and they don’t trust traditional advertising or direct marketing messages anymore. But they trust their peers within their communities. Companies that want to succeed in the age of community-based marketing have to be able to attract the right communities on the Web.

ITSMA: Most of our readers are from technology companies and have been on the Web for years. What can they do to make the transition to community-based marketing in a digital world?

Weber: Companies and marketing people need to recognize that the digital world has become the nexus, the starting point, of everything. They have to start really living in a digital world and not just treat the Web like an add-on program.

To do this, you first have to gain an understanding of the new digital influencers. Right now, that means getting your head around who’s writing for the important blogs. There is no newspaper in the United States with more than 2 million readers anymore. But guess how many blogs there are with more than 2 million readers? Twenty-seven.

Second, you need to recognize that unpaid corporate content is a huge draw. And by corporate content, I don’t mean brochures. I mean knowledge, thought leadership, and ideas. You have to map out a content strategy to attract your target audiences. If you have compelling content, you are going to aggregate the right people around your ideas and core competencies, and they, in turn, are going to spread the word among their peers and communities.

Third, I’d also get much closer to the people who are touching my digital constituencies, like the Webmaster and the IT guys who are buying the software that customers use. I’d really wrap my head around what’s going on there to ensure that I’m providing the best possible experience for my digital audiences.

Ultimately, content is still king, and customers are still the number-one priority. But where the content and customers are living has shifted, and you’ve got to go digital if you hope to survive.

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