Why? First of all, as marketers we have literally had the rug ripped out from under us in the past 5 years. We are living in a time of uncertainty and fear in nearly every part of our lives – personally and professionally. We've gone from slamming consumers with a running monologue – a message that was too often hand-fed to us by the PR department. How hard could that be right? NOW…we have to toss all the rules out the window and “engage” directly with customer in an intimate 2-way dialogue? Insert utter fear and confusion.

It's almost like we are re-learning to walk. Couple that with digital technology advancing faster than 98% of the population can even begin to keep up with and we're bound to see a bit of a bottleneck. Danny is right about agencies helping build the strategy, but since the level of engagement and exposure to the end-user is so intimate, a successfully executable strategy is going to need a brand/agency relationship that is second to none. Said agency partner needs to not only know the brand inside and out, but also know their customers, how to speak their language, and above all, how to help/teach the brand and its employees to “love them some people”.

So amazed more brands aren't jumping on this in a more complex/integrated manner. Although in the next 6 months I expect an avalanche.

I think that brands will achieve a balance through trial and error…don't you?

How else are you going to know what to do?