The following is a summary of the response to the ideas posted in the article Hypothesis #5: The Campaign is Dead (5/24).

This morning we attempted to define what a campaign is. And with a little help from academia, I think we got a bit closer. Kimmo Linkama, a professional copywriter, has simplified these ideas rather nicely, I think:

Campaigns and branding are not mutually exclusive. Branding is a top-level exercise. Campaigns are subordinate to the brand. Branding is the strategy, if you will, and campaigns are the tactics to make the strategy succeed.

Now, what Kimmo is not saying is that campaigns are the only tactics that work to make a branding strategy successful. And that’s the point that I want to elaborate on.

It goes back to what Brian Halligan wrote in his original post. Marketing should be about creating and publishing compelling content not just frequently, but constantly. If you want to talk about every blog post published, every white paper made available for download, or every client testimonial posted on YouTube as a campaign, then more power to you. But those aren’t campaigns, really. That kind of content should be generated all the time.

I wonder what your opinion is on the validity of this idea: Marketing is no longer about messaging to people. It’s about actively starting and engaging in conversations everywhere, all day, every day. Is Halligan way off-base here? What do you think?

Photo courtesy Rhett Crowe.