Not too long ago one of the people I follow on twitter posed the rhetorical question; ‘when is the last time your loyalty programs showed it was loyal to you? ‘ Mmmm go me thinking.

I am sure most of you have read “The Tipping Point” or “The Influentials” where the authors Keller&Berry claim ‘…one American in 10 tells the other 9 how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy’. They both claim that a small percentage of people (10% typically) trigger trends.

The addition of new places to market online - blogs, forums, social networking sites - has re-focused us on the fact that people talk to each other about the products/services we are marketing.

These conversations are not just another communication channel, the interaction shapes the message and you are not in control. This qualifies as the 5th "P" in our mash-up of Kotler's Marketing Mix.