Entrepreneurial marketing and the Web 2.0 interface Brian Jones Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK Abstract Purpose – The paper aims to analyse the relationship between marketing and entrepreneurship. It looks at the way in which Web 2.0 technologies are changing the marketing and entrepreneurial landscapes. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the impact of Web 2.0 social media for entrepreneurial marketing. It looks at social media as a marketing tool and considers the positive and negative effects it has for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Findings – Web 2.0 plays a central part in the functioning and delivery of marketing and entrepreneurship. It empowers individual consumers and provides additional communication channels for comment, feedback, and involvement in shaping product and service development and experience. It is also a tool for human empowerment, liberation and advancing the cause of freedom, including the freedom to start a business. Originality/value – The paper discusses issues of “real-world” relevance, which entrepreneurs, small business owners and marketing practitioners can use to inform and develop their practice. It argues that Web 2.0 can be used to liberate and further emancipate consumers and further the cause of entrepreneurship. Keywords Entrepreneurialism, Marketing, Communication technologies, Small enterprises Paper type Viewpoint Introduction For many years, marketing has been a central concern of entrepreneurial research (Carson et al., 1995; Chaston, 2000). Entrepreneurs and scholars of entrepreneurship have long been interested in the nature, operation and value-adding potential of marketing (Lodish et al., 2001). Marketers, entrepreneurs and academics are increasingly questioning and discussing the role of marketing in the entrepreneurial process (Schindehutte et al., 2009; Crane, 2009). This paper reflects and extends interest and knowledge in the entrepreneurial (Stokes et al., 2010; Storey and Greene, 2010) and marketing (Palmer, 2009; McDaniel et al., 2009) disciplines. It looks at current changes in the communication of knowledge and distribution of information via tools of social media or Web 2.0 as it is also known. It looks at the evidence and potential for change and looks at what some of the implications of these might be for the small business sector. It is argued here that the relationship between marketing and entrepreneurship is mutually beneficial and that both discipline subject areas when combined have much to contribute to both knowledge and practice. The sum of marketing plus entrepreneurship is greater than their individual component parts. Entrepreneurial marketing might be thought of as a confused concept. This is partly to do with the fact that it draws on a number of discipline subject areas, that there is no-one universally agreed definition and that marketers, entrepreneurs and academics emphasise different aspects of the concept to preserve and advance their own interests. Entrepreneurial marketing is a concept mired in theoretical, policy and practitioner The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1471-5201.htm Entrepreneurial marketing 143 Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Vol. 12 No. 2, 2010 pp. 143-152 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1471-5201 DOI 10.1108/14715201011090602