ABSTRACT
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Godin’s (2000) claim that permission marketing
and one-to-one marketing are passé, it is clear that the marketing communications
landscape is at the threshold of dramatic change. Marketers are at the center of the old
landscape-and within this landscape, communication flows primarily from the marketer
out to targeted groups of consumers. In contrast, in the new networked age, consumers
will be at the center and information will flow more freely in all directions (from
consumer to consumer, from consumer to business, and from business to consumer). Of
course, the biggest change occurring is in the increased amount of consumer-to-consumer
communication possible now that so many people are online. This change holds
tremendous opportunity for marketers willing to adapt and to develop messages that
consumers are then willing to share with one another.
