Correspondence: Danny Meadows-Klue, Digital Strategy Consulting, Digital Strategy, The Digital Hub, 19-21 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PA, UK. Tel: +44 0 20 7244 9661; E-mail: Danny@DigitalStrategyConsulting.com Web: www.DigitalStrategyConsulting.com

¹is Chief Executive, Digital Strategy Consulting.

Received 29 October 2007.

Abstract

Until now the relationship between brands and consumers has been one way. The rules of marketing had to change, and the web has proved a catalyst in bringing the changes forward and amplifying their scale. The removal of frictions in the spread of information has created a radically different landscape for marketers to work within and this is a key element in understanding how the first generation of internet marketing works. The sudden emergence of the Web 2.0 marketing techniques demand additional approaches, and while most marketers are still wrestling with the first generation, savvy brands are exploring the landscape that social media and social networks create for marketers. These techniques are allowing much deeper drivers in social change to be unleashed, with a profound impact on planning customer connections. The new generation of relationship marketing responds to the additional challenges of digital media literacy, and in the right hands can trigger a rebuild of the entire marketing mix. Relationship marketing for the Facebook generation demands both thinking and acting differently.