I was at a talk by Charles Leadbetter the other night where he was talking about his new book WeThink. He used an analogy I liked. The quickest way to get a bird from A to B is to strap it to a rock and throw it. But in doing that you take away all it's bird-like qualities. This is the old world. We used to bombard people with messages in the hope of propelling them into buying our products. Of-course the other way to get a bird to point B is to put out some bird seed and let it fly there. This is the new world. We attract audiences with things they find interesting, useful, fun.
Andy sent me a rather apt quote from Len Ellis which sums up this new balance rather well I think:
"Unlike representation which pushes messages out, simulation pulls visitors in; unlike the 'masculine' tradition of targeting, capturing and penetrating, the Web requires a 'feminine' approach of attracting, listening and involving."
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