Fads or Smart Marketing?

After a summer hiatus, Eric  Kintz is  back with a post on Dissociative Identity Marketing. In an era of marketers scrambling for the latest on interactive marketing and/or behaviorial  targeting, Eric  asks simply:

So what do you think? Is “dissociative identity marketing” the latest fad or the ultimate customer centric marketing?

I am afraid I am going to cop out on this one as it is,  by all means, both. In fact, on Wikipedia's definition of a fad, the personas that Kintz identifies (particularly blogs and social networks) are listed as the latest fads.

On the  other hand, I believe experimentation in these spaces is not just  customer-centric but good business. Companies like  Starwood  experimenting in  Second  Life and Unilever's  Axe  Gamekillers on  MySpace are "risks" worth taking. The smarter marketers get in these arenas, particularly if they can foster these skills in-house, the better  off they will be. It may be a fad one day  (see: Search) and an invaluable marketing  competency the next.