The pipes are merging!

Once upon a time there used to be three pipes.

• The first pipe was called marketing. One one end of marketing was the brand and on the other end was the customer. The pipe itself passed through TV channels, magazines, newspapers and other forms of traditional media. The flow was guided by advertising agencies, digital agencies, direct marketing agencies and research agencies.
• The second pipe was Public Relations. On one end was the corporate communication team and on the other end was the same customer. This pipe passed through journalists and influencers of all kinds. The flow was guided by PR agencies.
• The third pipe was Customer Service. On one end was the customer service team and on the other end was still the same customer. The flow was guided by internal teams and consultants.

These three pipes rarely crossed each others path. As a result, the guides – advertising agencies, PR agencies, digital agencies and customer service teams never spoke with each other.

These pipes are now breaking down and merging into one. This one pipe is called the Social Media pipe. On one end are the customers and on the other end are the marketing teams, PR teams and the customer service teams.

The guides who never used to speak with each other are now fighting over who will have the rights to guide the new fat pipe. On most occasions they have to work with each other.

The merger of these pipes is beginning to have far reaching effects on the structure of marketing, PR and customer service teams and of course on the roles of the guides! The fun has just begun.