Corante Network contributor Elizabeth Abrycht posted on a theme she noticed from the recent Les Blogs conference: "how cheap producing content, be it text, audio, or video, has become":

"...professional marketers and PR people have a need to produce perfect stuff. Perfect websites, brochures, corporate video etc." due to the former high cost and low accessibility of production of such collateral as Super Bowl ads. Now, with the advent of cheaper and more accessible production methods "maybe, therefore, our collateral doesn't have to be perfect any more. Maybe we can take more risks. Maybe throw out more ideas, enable others to comment and contribute. Revisit, revise -- maybe all this becomes a constant process of improvement vs. the production of one-time monolithic things."

This post has gotten a number of comments both pro and con. Personally, I've seen this coming a long time in a lot of ways. Corante used to have a blog called Amateur Hour that was about how new technologies were enabling consumer-created entertainment and news that were very competitive with professional products. It makes sense that this trend would affect marketing and PR. There are so many pitfalls for marketers though, in all directions! The trust issue here is not simple -- it's complex. People don't trust slick presentations, and yet they also may not trust companies that can do and have done slick presentations who suddenly, consciously, "rough up." It has to be authentic and natural.