David, I think maybe you don't like golf. For a lot of CEOs it's the original social media. Ted

David, I agree with the overall points you're making, but I do think there is a role for advertising (and yes, good old fashioned interruption) even if the campaign approach is to continuously publish great content on a site that's valuable to specific buyer personas. Placing ads in the right media at the start of a campaign to let your audience know about the content can be very important to get the ball rolling and let people know the site and content is there. It's just one of many ways to get the word out, but it is part of the tool box. I completely understand the anti-advertising mantra, and in fact we held an Irish wake at our office last year for our dear departed advertising. But I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that there's still SOME role for ads in our campaigns.

Good post David. I think a little fear can actually be very helpful for a company. From my own experience, if I don't feel at least a pang of apprehension around a new venture, then it's probably safe and average and not worth doing. There are real risks to using social media (if it's done very badly), but the same can be said for any marketing tool at our disposal. And the risk of NOT using social media is higher than using it.

While Sheen is clearly playing the media world like a violin, he's promoting a personal brand that is unhinged. It's no different from people slowing down to see a car wreck on the side of the road. I would not call that winning. But I do appreciate your point about the skill of media use.

David, Amanda is awesome. I met her recently at one of my readings. Good for her. She need the freedom, and she deserves it. Ted