One of the biggest stories dominating the media over the past week has been the BBC Strategy Review and Director General Mark Thompson’s decision to shut down BBC 6 Music. For a nation of licence fee payers, it’s inevitable that any change to the structure of the BBC is greeted with a tide of reaction. While we are all entitled to voice our opinion, should we have any say in the way the BBC is actually run?

The BBC is one of Britain’s greatest remaining institutions, and is rightly respected the world over.  But due to the unique way it is funded, it is faced with the impossible task of pleasing everybody all of the time. Many have viewed Thompson’s announcement as a pre-emptive measure in the face of the possible election of a Conservative government which, according to many, will continue to kowtow to Rupert Murdoch in exchange for the support of News International.

With Murdoch effectively dictating Conservative media policy for his own ends, the heat on the BBC could become almost unbearable in the wake of a Cameron government. Yes, there is without doubt a debate to be had about the way our licence fee is spent. But that debate should be led by the public, and not triggered by the demands of a commercial rival.

6 Music may cater to an audience of ‘only’ 700,000, but when it costs just £6m a year to run ( a mere 2% of the BBC’s total radio output) compared to the £100m that the terminally dire BBC Three haemorrhages, you have to wonder if it’s being held up as something of a sacrificial lamb. Is £6m really that much to the BBC in the overall scheme of things?

As you would expect of an audience of DAB listeners, fans of 6 Music have utilised social media to launch a campaign to save the station. With the high-profile support of megastars like David Bowie, Radiohead and Lily Allen, not to mention a U-turn from Tory culture spokesman Ed Vaizey, hopefully the BBC Trust will see sense and block Thompson’s proposals. Otherwise, we’re left with Fearne Cotton as BBC radio’s voice of alternative music. And how depressing is that?

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Last week, Eulogy! put out a story for one of our marketing services clients on opt-out rates, exploring how many people in certain areas of the UK are dropping out of circulation lists for marketing communications.  While researching how big companies react to this kind of news, I found myself wondering, not for the first time, why the business world is so insistent on separating ‘consumers’ from ‘businesspeople’.  Why can’t we be realistic and realise that people can be both?

In PR, we obviously distinguish between consumer and B2B, because the type of work we do for clients in these spaces is very different.  With consumer projects you are often trying to sell the idea of a product or service, while B2B PR is generally more about instigating and maintaining debate and discussing industry issues. However, in terms of audience, we need to be very careful not to pigeonhole people into separate camps. Just because Joe Bloggs is in marketing or runs a successful business, doesn’t mean that he’s not a consumer who prefers  to read NME over Heat magazine or likes Cornflakes better than All-Bran.

Particularly with regard to the rise of online technology and social networks, we have seen a raft of articles in the business and marketing press advising companies on how to talk to their consumers. However, what we mustn’t do is create an ‘us and them’ atmosphere and talk about consumers as if they are a breed apart.

It’s the fact that we are all consumers, and have our likes, dislikes, preferences and pet hates, that makes us able to work better as businesspeople and indeed as commentators on what consumers respond to.  I certainly think I do a better job writing about these issues because I reflect on my own responses to marketing. I don’t consider myself an insider because I work in the world of marketing services; I am an insider because I draw on my own experiences as a consumer to make a judgement.

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Viral marketing is a tricky beast. Get it right and you can hoodwink millions of people into getting excited about industrial-strength blenders. Get it wrong and you provoke thousands of panicked Americans into demanding that NASA reveals details of the imminent apocalypse.

Everyone wants to crack a good viral these days. Of course, most seem to overlook that the term ‘viral’ should only really be applied to something that has caught the imagination of the online community and rapidly spread, like a virus. If we’re being picky, simply uploading something to YouTube and issuing a press release about it doesn’t constitute the creation of a viral.

To be responsible for a successful viral campaign it’s vital that you do the unexpected and create something original, such as a mini-drama about a teenage boy having his first period. But rather than simply being outrageous or ‘wacky’ for the sake of it, brands need to make sure they’re creating something that will be able to tap into their target market.

Thankfully most marketing agencies understand this by now, and it’s great to work with clients that get it right. Euro RSCG 4D Digital, the digital arm of EHS Brann, for example, recently created a genuinely innovative campaign in support of the launch of the Peugeot 3008 Crossover. The agency could legitimately lay claim to creating something original that also reflected the values of the product it was supporting. The campaign generated discussion in the marketing press because there was clearly a lot of thought behind it.

These values should not just be limited to digital media, however, and are also reflected in more traditional forms of marketing. EHS Brann has strong roots in direct marketing, and looks to incorporate humour and generate discussion wherever possible in offline campaigns.

The agency’s recent work with Foster’s saw risqué Top Trumps-style cards sent out to targeted groups with the sole aim of generating discussion in the pub. If a campaign can do this, whether via YouTube or through something that’s dropped through the letterbox, you know you’re onto a winner.

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