Communicating in a Digital World

It seems like everyone these days is trying to find new ways to have a dialogue with consumers. Companies are creating Facebook pages, using blogs and posting videos on YouTube for the world to see. The explosion of social media has completely changed the game and the days of 1-1 communication should be over.

As Joseph Jaffe put it, "Consumers today are active participants in the advertising process, not silent targets and sitting ducks for one-way communication. Forget about the medium being message; today, consumers are both the medium and the message."

But, here is my question.... why are so many agencies giving this "new" way of communicating just lip service? I hear far too many agencies talk about how they consider digital to be core to their offering. But, do they really understand what that means? Do they understand how to provide consumers with the tools to engage and have a conversation with a brand? I doubt it. The plethora of TV, Radio, Print and Display Campaigns that look the same and contain the same messaging, but provide no tools to enable consumer dialogue only strengthen this point.

So, why is this? Are agencies too afraid to break from their models of producing campaigns? Do they even get the joke?

Thoughts?

- Chris