And I actually think there are two different functions being talked about here — one an *active marketing* function, in which the brand is establishing a presence on Twitter, and the other a *marketing intelligence* function, in which a brand is garnering qualitative and quantitative data on what people are saying about a brand, and how it is changing over time. I agree that the former is probably not the best fit in a lot of situations, but the value of the latter is far more universal.

And one problem with Twitter acting as your agency is that they’ll be less likely to say “twitter is a waste of your time, money and resources” in those cases when that’s the truth.

In addition, perhaps I didn’t stress this enough, but a big part of the service would be access to deep analytical data. I’m imagining a subscription service, akin to that which someone like webtrends or omniture provides, whereby a brand is receiving monthly reports, both qualitative (what people are saying) and quantitative (how many people are saying it.) This is the sort of reporting that no one else is so well positioned to provide, and which would be of immense value to any brand which cares what people are saying (and thinking) about it.