
Confession: I’ve never been a Don Tapscott fan – maybe because I’ve always viewed him as more of a well-polished marketer who focuses on technology as opposed to a tech guru, and maybe because I’ve been a tech “insider” for the past decade, and see Tapscott’s books, speeches, etc. as far less insightful than people who are not directly involved in the tech industry.
To me, Tapscott’s “expertise” lies in four areas: a knack for recognizing emerging trends/business opportunities (be it the Internet, Y2K, e-commerce, corporate governance and, most recently, Web 2.0); a gift for gathering information from a variety of sources and then packaging it so it’s easily digest-able by the common folk; the ability to position himself as an “expert”; and, of course, the ability to make a lot of money from the “hot new trend” through books (most of them co-authored), research studies (many sponsored by corporate clients), keynotes, etc. under the Don Tapscott brand.
That said, Tapscott is onto something with a $3.5-million research study he’s doing in a partnership with OgilvyOne on how young people (aka Generation X and Y) are using the Web, including their decisions about brands. Speaking at a conference put on today by Ogilvy. Tapscott offered some interesting insight into how young people consume media, and how the Web influences their choices, behaviour, attitudes, etc.
There’s no doubt young people have a deeper involvement with the Web than most people, although they don’t see the Web as a great technology as much as a tool to be used – much like we never saw the remote control was nothing more complicated than a tool to change channels. It’s an idea that I find fascinating and one that I’m lobbying to be part of the upcoming mesh conference agenda (we’ll see if I my efforts are successful!)
Another thing that struck me during the half-day event was the tone. By that, I mean the information about the Web was pretty basic as if OgilvyOne wanted to err on the side of caution rather than assume the audience had a sophisticated knowledge of the Web and the key trends and tools. Maybe I’m wrong but my sense is that many advertisers are still feeling their way on the Web, trying to work out the best ways to approach it (CPM, CPL, CPC, AdSense, banner ads, etc.), what vehicles to use (portals, blogs, targeted sites), and how much of their ad budgets to allocate. Given the Web only accounts for 5% of total advertising spending, it’s still early days and there’s plenty of runway left.
Update: An overview of the conference by Webwalker can be found here and here.
Technorati Tags: Don Tapscott, Ogilvy Mather




5 Comments
Gosh, Mark — Tapscott doesn’t even write his own books and once tried to hire someone I know to write a blog for him. Seems to me he’s a $10,000 per speech guy who is about a year behind every trend. The only people who take him seriously are those that don’t know any better. Too bad they are also the same people who run companies and hire Tapscott to speak.
By the way, wasn’t he involved with Itemus and some mapping company about five years back. Both were huge failures that haven’t appeared to stick to Don….
Yeah, maybe they were trying to keep simple for the “People” – or maybe they just have zero to add.
I know what my money’s on.
I think his Wikipedia entry states it best….11 books with his name on them…while 8 of the 11 are co-authored. One might think the real insight, content, and knowledge comes from his co-authors? Perhaps he is just an incredibly effective amplifier.
It is not what you know, but who you know and how you say it. It would appear as though Tapscott seems to understand this very well.
I don’t agree with Don….
Gen Y doesn’t see the Web as a tool. They don’t see the Web at all. There is no online and offline anymore. Technology has become biology.
(and if someone wants to pay me 3 million dollars i can expand on this insight)
I agree with Leigh, from the younger people I have contact with I have to conclude they don’t see technology as the rest of us older folk do. It’s transparent, every day, mundane, and non-compartmentalised. We think “I will get my phone and SMS so-and-so”, they are just doing what they do. They only notice the technology when it’s not there for some reason.
We see the drill, they see the hole in the wall.