Whether or not you appreciate the New York Times’ Frank Rich (he’s the oracle of righteous truth to the Left and worse than the devil to the Right), you’ve got to admit he’s a pretty astute observer of American culture. Prior to becoming the lead political columnist for the Times, Rich spent many years as the paper’s Broadway reviewer, and also as a roving cultural observer. The guy knows a signal cultural moment when he sees one.

In his most recent column on Sunday, April 30, (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/opinion/30rich.html?em&ex=1207108800&en=2cf5ebc38b18b047&ei=5087%0A), Rich wrote about just such a cultural moment. He did so in the context of the growing criticism of Hillary Clinton’s now infamous “mis-speaking” about her landing in Bosnia back in the 90s, supposedly under “heavy fire.” Of course, that “fairy tale” (Bill Clinton’s favorite formulation) has now been debunked by the existence of videotape (“let’s go to the videotape!”). The video clearly shows that, far from landing in a hot zone, the then First Lady was actually met on the Bosnian tarmac by a friendly welcome party, including a cute little girl bearing kisses, poems and flowers.

So, Senator Clinton had to backtrack yet again. She claimed that she was tired and thus “mis-spoke” (a tried and true political euphemism). “Hey, I’m human, which might come as a surprise to some people,” candidate Clinton remarked self-deprecatingly. Nice try, Hillary.

She clearly hoped that this bit of humor and “candor” would make the mis-speak problem just go away. Instead, it has taken on quite a life of its own. And a big reason why is the viral power of the web to magnify and accentuate a narrative (like Hillary’s Bosnia story), and turn it into something altogether different. That “something” all too frequently ends up being a monster that does not want to go back into its cage.

The “cultural moment” that Rich explored so insightfully in Sunday’s column is what he calls the “accelerating power of viral politics, as exemplified by YouTube, to override the retail politics still venerated by the Beltway establishment.”

Rich noted how Clinton’s Bosnia film clip became a huge hit on YouTube, to the obvious horror of the Clinton campaign. Rich also cited another recent and wildly popular YouTube video: Barack Obama’s 40-minute speech on race and politics, in which he tried to tamp down the controversy over the incendiary remarks of his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. No doubt Barack’s campaign was a lot happier about their video piece going viral. The speech was already well received by the mainstream media, and its ruling punditocracy, but the fact that it played so big on the web was a major windfall for Obama and his presidential prospects.

Again, two very different videos, both reflecting the new “viral power” that was described in Rich’s column. We business marketers and communicators need to take heed of this web-driven viral effect. As clearly demonstrated by both the Clinton and Obama videos, it can both wound and help your brand and business.

Marketers are anything but immune from the potentially devastating effects of the viral power that is now a fact of life in this fasting changing cultural, political and business environment. But, the viral “tiger’s tail” can also be a potent weapon for marketers, if used correctly and judiciously.

Rich makes the point perfectly with this (paraphrased) quote from his recent piece: “But politically and culturally we’re not in the 1980s – or pre-YouTube 2004 – anymore….A new bottom-up media culture is challenging any candidate’s control of a message.”

Rich could be making the identical comment about a marketer’s control of her/his brand message — even their brands overall. The same cultural, media and technological forces that are having such a huge impact on political campaigns are roiling the business world as well. Marketers can use these new tools to their benefit, or we can also get swamped by them if we’re not careful. (Just think back to the 2006 election when former Virginia Senator George Allen’s ill advised “macaca” comment went Double Super Platinum viral on the web, causing his once promising political career to go up in flames.)

Just as Rich described how the viral capabilities of the web and emerging media are drastically changing culture and politics, these digital forces are having similarly transformative effects on marketing. A new movement in marketing, co-creation, fits very well within this new marketing paradigm. The web presents an historic opportunity to get even closer to your customers and other key stakeholders of your brand, business and/or organization. And once you are closer to these stakeholders, you can begin to foster a rich, two-way dialogue with them (which is at the center of the co-creative philosophy).

In my previous post on the emergence of “co-creation” in marketing, I described how smart marketers are starting to use the interactive, democratizing power of the web to pull customers and consumers closer to their brands and business activities. The co-creative marketing movement is about empowering customers to help develop new products and fix/improve existing ones (like Starbucks is trying to do with its new www.mystarbucksidea.com site), create new services, explore and build new business opportunities, and actually help to co-market brands. Yes, co-creation is about marketers giving up some power (and opening their kimonos, which can be embarrassing at times), but also realizing significant benefits from turning your customers into true partners.

Full circle to Frank Rich’s most salient point: Politically or culturally, we’re clearly “no longer in the 1980s!” That decade was the last to be pre-digital, pre-Internet, pre-viral, pre-YouTube, even pre-cell phone ubiquity (that is one “pre” I wouldn’t mind reverting back to sometimes). It is ultimately up to marketers (like you and me) to embrace and effectively leverage and manage this new “digital moment/opportunity," or risk being controlled and overrun by it. The latter scenario is not an option for most of us.

So, where do we go from here? It is definitely not a time to put our heads in the sand and retreat out of fear or excess caution relative to the web’s viral potential. To win in this digitally-driven, co-creative, cultural/business moment, we’ll need to both tread carefully and go big. Sometimes at the same time. The reality is that your customers/consumers are already starting to flex their muscles because they are feeling pretty empowered these days. That empowerment can be advantageous for you and your brand, but it also poses new challenges. Again, it’s what you choose to do with it.

A great starting point is to adopt co-creation in your marketing, communications, product development and even operations. This strategy has the potential of making your key stakeholders feel like they have a much bigger stake in the mutually-successful future you both desire. And, when your customers feel like they have ownership in your success, they will use their new found power to help you achieve that positive result. First and foremost, people are driven by self interest. Make sure your interests are inextricably linked to their interests. Co-creation can help you do that.

As the old saying goes, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Smart advice, especially in this digitally-driven, customer-empowered “moment” in which we now find ourselves. Why try to navigate it on your own, when you can co-create a profitable path for your brand and your customers alike.

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