I just came across this wonderful article by Michael Troiano entitled It's Time to Tackle the Unlearning Challenge. (I strongly encourage you to read it.) Among other things, it discusses how the rapid advance of social media is challenging many marketers and branding experts long-held assumptions and confronting them with a radically new future where:
1. The user is in control now;
2. Great marketing is distributed, not centralized;
3. Targeted engagement trumps message control;
4. The future belongs to free content; and (perhaps)
5. Advertising is dead.
But I especially enjoyed this line about social media: "[E]ven those who "get it" often seem not quite sure what to do with it." (I think much the same could be said of those of us who have embraced the concept on unlearning.)
For more information on unlearning and marketing, I encourage you to peruse these old posts as well as 10 Things Marketers Should Consider Unlearning.
