Open-Source Content, Open-Source Marketing

Lately, publishers have been struggling with fledgling efforts at open-source content. For instance, while the Washington Post had to turn off the comments feature on the ombudsman's blog in January, other editorial blogs there remain open for comments. 

(A digression: From what I have seen, many of these comments tend to pick on the writer's poor typing, spelling, and grammar skills. Hmm, maybe writers need editors after all?  That's a new thought for the blogosphere.  Someone could start a company to help edit bloggers, for a per-post fee of course.  Combine that with a reputation system so readers can comment on what blog posts are best, and before you know it, you have a newspaper!)

First-time glitches aside, it is an appropriate, credible, even expert marketing (or editorial) technique to give stakeholders a say in the product (or help make the content).  As we know, there are several ways to interpret the words "Open-Source", with one being that the code or "recipe" is able to be seen (or "open"), and another being that the provenance or origin of the work is communal or collaborative (or "open").

Here's a nice example of both open-source marketing and open-source content: Sony's website http://thedavincichallenge.com , which quite brilliantly creates a forum for those who disagree with the message of the book The Da Vinci Code.  Conveniently, all the experts asked seem to have a similar message: hate the book and the movie, but read it and see it so you can discuss them with those who love them.  A boycott, one of the anti-experts states, tends to draw more attention to the movie, and draw negative publicity to your cause.  The site is clearly "managed", but it's a decent way to open up the floor for comment that may not be favorable.  Anyway, it's fair to manage collaboration, which can get really messy.

I continue to believe that it is worthwhile to engage your detractors in public discussion as a marketing technique!  I heard the other day that yet another company stopped advertising in a newspaper that published a negative story about them.  This happens all the time in the magazine world.  When you stop participating in the conversation, you have lost the battle.

Comments

[Russell Nelson]

Um, Isabel, you spelled "grammer" corectly.
-russ