Bell Atlantic and the FCC were at odds about a telecommunications issue. Using the services of a Washington, DC public relations firm, Bell Atlantic created a Web page that provided email forms pre-addressed to FCC commissioners. So much email was generated from the Bell Atlantic Web site that the FCC's computer systems were overwhelmed and temporarily shut down while the FCC scrambled to revise its email processing procedures. Those of us who insist on publicly flinching at any equation of advocacy and marketing do so at the risk of flaunting our ignorance. Politically our country is polarized.
Advocacy is, indeed, like marketing.
On the Web and anywhere, advocacy is a matter of establishing credibility, building relationships, publishing ideas, exciting people about the future, and eventually going for the hard sell. Let your view be known. If you're on our side, we want you to be heard.