mobites - ideas, inspiration, insight
ideas, inspiration, and insights from the folks at mobium
Business marketing shift 1: The shift that’s already hit the fan
Have you noticed?
The marketing techniques, programs, media and approaches that you relied on in the past are working about as well as a Celine Dion cover version of “Whole Lotta Love.”
If you have, then I’ve got even worse news for you, Spanky. They probably won’t work at all in the future. At least not in the same way they have in the past.
What a bummer
The reason is deceptively simple. The world you’re sending them into has changed. Dramatically. In many messy ways. In many specific, messy ways.
If you don’t think so, take a quick look at this video.
Shift has happened, my friend. Whether you recognize it or not, you’ve stepped in it. It’s unavoidable. It’s all over your shoes. And things will never be the same again.
The world takes a power shift
Somewhere between the inventions of distributed computing and the Mosaic browser, the age of information arrived. And with it, the biggest and most important power shift in communications control in history began.
If you’re a business marketer this is what you’d call a mammoth, major, mother-of-a- paradigm shift. And if you fail to recognize this change in who really controls information and sales communications these days, you’ll create a mammoth divide between your brand and your customers and prospects not seen since Carly Simon last yawned in public.
They don’t need you anymore, Bucky
Bottom line is your customers and prospects don’t require you or your assistance in order to get all the product, service and brand information they need to make a buying decision.
In fact, technology has enabled them to know more about their brand choices, know it more holistically from more sources and know it more quickly than you ever could.
But all is not lost
Change on this level comes with opportunities built in. That is if you know where to look.
So we’ll be talking about some of these specific customer-controlled changes and the marketing opportunities they create in future posts and comments. Please join in the conversation and let your views be known.
In the meantime, if you’d like to explore all this shifty stuff in more detail and discover some of the ways you can turn this shifty situation into a competitive advantage, check out the free ebook Shift This.
But if you’re afraid your head will spin off into oblivion with all this talk of change, here’s a ridiculously over simplistic management summary.
A quick and dirty overview of the future of the world in bullet points
- For the first time in history, customers and prospects control information, communications and the purchase process, and they will determine when, where and how they will access your brand and product/service information.
- Brands must be based on what customers/prospects believe is important in making a purchase or use decision and their perceptions of their other brand choices.
- Brands move from disruptive messages to brand experiences accessed by customers and prospects for their information and empowerment value.
- Marketing becomes a dialogue with customers and prospects based on listening and understanding their needs, and responding to specific requests for information rather than one-sided monologues controlled by the marketer.
But that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.
What’s your take?
Tags: aligning marketing department with innovation, brand communications, brand experience, branding, business marketing change, buying concept, conversation/dialogue, customer control, customer relationships, dialogue communications, differentiating, information, integrated communications, interactive, interactive marketing, marketing change
July 6th, 2010 at 7:45 am
The greatest innovation in the last decade is the data rich tools that can be mined be it transactional data linked to real bodies via Dunnhumby or the scanner based data one can pull from throughout the supply chain. The great breakthrus are NOT digital media or social media for improved ROI, they are a nice addition to the tools a marketer can utilize to target the customer/consumer. I tire of the revolutionary sound bite techno rap that has most people’s interest as the “plastics” of the 60’s. The added insight into what your target audience wants and greater tools to get to them is revolutionary but the tried and true tools of the last 10 years to reach them are for the most part still for the most part the best tools used with greater precision and MUCH higher ROI…or much lower cost/sale for the same results. Most of the tools remain the same. It’s the targeting mechanisms that have revolutionized. I will still use my twitter, facebook and linkedin for connecting as well as my web centric tools but the world of business building tools has not changed all that much. It’s the data that has. Marvelous days for great marketing strategy and execution and the big retailers and CPG giants are just BEGINNING to understand it. P&G, Wal-Mart etc. are very slow to adapt but they are on there way. YOU can still have impact getting them there…it’s not ALL in their hands YET.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Scott,
As you say, “The added insight into what your target audience wants and greater tools to get to them is revolutionary but the tried and true tools of the last 10 years to reach them are for the most part still for the most part the best tools used with greater precision and MUCH higher ROI…”
Seems to me that one of the great things these data rich tools do is help us carry on a conversation with customers and prospects around the things that they really care about. In that regard, I agree with you, it effects how we approach all media.
What we say, who we say it to and how we say it all contribute to a new and better way to think about business marketing.
Thanks so much for your insights.
…gordon
August 5th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Gordon- Scott’s somewhat cautionary note is well taken. In the consumer world, when you look at categories of household spending (housing and transportation account for over 50%) you have to ask yourself to what degree transactions are really influenced by new information technology and specifically how the influence plays out. Transportation is a good area to look at because according to the BLS, a third of the 17% of household income that goes to transportation goes to vehicle purchase. A large percentage of vehicle buyers (77% of new car purchasers according to JD Powers) use internet resources in the course of their purchase process. The changes that the internet has wrought in the automotive sector are profound and they will continue to compound but the traditional sales and marketing expenditures in this category remain huge, for good reason. I am with Scott on the power of watching what customers and prospects actually do. What you learn by listening and dialogue are data points, but not sales.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Good blog! I genuinely love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I may be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which really should do the trick! Have a nice day!
October 1st, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Love the article. The thing is, there is so much information out there now that the customer is sometimes more informed than the seller. You almost have to be one step ahead - detailed insight into your product reaches much further than the user guide. You need to know the criticisms, faults and strengths in your product as seen by other customers, media people, celebrities, resellers etc etc. There are great opportunities not only to be informed but to provide the information. And best of all it is cheap and instantaneous.
October 5th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
RAB
I couldn’t agree with you more. Customers and prospects know more, faster and more holistically than marketers do about their brand choices. Partly because they get to decide where to look for brands that satisfy their rapidly changing needs. Often their list of possibilities is not the same as the marketer’s competitive frame. It contains new, ancillary technologies or brands in other categories that the marketer hasn’t thought of or doesn’t consider competitive.
As you said, the whole thing takes on a different slant when viewed from the customer or prospect’s point of view.
Thanks for your take on this.
…gordon