Going going gone. Social media opportunity knocks.

No names no pack drill in this post.

I looked on yesterday as opportunity knocked.

Opportunity knocked to create some high credibility, high visibility, on-brand noise for one of our clients.

Trouble was that the opportunity in question was of the social media variety.

Also known as the serendipitous, unforeseen, real-time, quick decision needed variety.

Opportunity knocked.

Opportunity went begging.

Opportunity presented about a half hour window in which a (very) low cost decision was required.

In this instance the client in question simply couldn’t be reached.

So we’ll never know what would have happened.

What I do know is that there are plenty of organisations – organisations with a professed interest in social media – that would be culturally incapable of capitalising on a chance like this, even if they could be reached within the window of opportunity.

No written proposal.

No time to raise a purchase order.

No guarantee of any effect.

Hunch marketing.

There are plenty of people in big brand marketing departments who intellectually and emotionally get it. It being the whole social thing. But they are trapped in cultures that won’t allow get-it theory to translate into get-it practice.

We’d need three things to avoid this kind of missed opportunity and put two metaphorical fingers up to 20th century corporate culture.

• A client that gets it.

• A pre-paid discretionary budget of, say, £1,000.

• The complete trust of the client to spend the money without prior approval.

The third one is the big one obviously. But what a lovely position to find yourself in.

Could that work?