Brands building community without adveritising

I came across this in an article posted on adweek.com. It features stories about Zappos, Craigslist and, of course, Google, brands building relationships with their customers not based on advertising.

Here's a quote from the article: "Everyone is connected, and hiding behind glossy images won't work when a Google search can turn up the good, bad and ugly of your company. In the analog world, it was different. [Umair] Haque [of Havas Media Lab] believes brands thrived on how difficult it was for people to get information. Logos, spokespersons and slogans combined to give consumers a way to make choices. But now, the Internet has turned that on its head."

And this: " And while the early part of the Web was often about the ability to be someone else, the recent rise in social networking has put a premium on real identity. Facebook is only valuable to users if they interact as who they really are."

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