…the Customer !
Information is power, and customers now have more access to information than ever before.
Add to that, Chris van der Kuyl recently put forward the view (which I agree with) that the pace of innovation is now such that it is subject to Moore’s Law.
Why is it, then, that so many companies continue to try to control / own their customers, when a) old fashioned marketing is dying, and b) the pace of innovation means that it will soon be time to bury it forever.
What then, will be the “new” marketing ? It is simple…yet as difficult for many organisations (and their marketing agencies) as making a supertanker turn around rapidly.
The answer ? Start by building (or rebuilding!) everything you do around your customer, what they want, what they need, and how those wants and needs change over time. Then, the essence of Marketing 2.0…don’t make them come to you, go to them.
Recent blogs have touched on this, but I can see a theme coming for blogs to come.
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Marketing is not dead. The gurus are becoming more customer centric, but at the same time they understand some of the traditional buttons that drive human behavior – being cool, exclusivity, sexual insecurities, etc. They will listen to the conversations to further validate their final initiatives.
Jim, you are right on both counts…. the key is listening….both the consultant listening to the client.. and the client listening to their customers….
Marketing is not dead, far from it. In a world of clutter, where the consumer has some much choice. Branding will become more important in order to help the tourist with choice management. This is the world of the Long Tail and Paradox of Choice. Advertising is not dead either, just being reformated. Yes, less advertising on the main stream TV. But today we see niche TV channels, everything from knitting to playboy. Advertising on these channels becomes micro and person specific. New distribution channels have appeared like the internet – which again drives more advertising. 99.8% of Googles revenue comes from advertising. Consumers are more savvy, therefore the film and TV advertising industry has turned to sposnorship and product placement. We have seen an upsurge in the importance of film IN destination marketing. So, marketing, advertising and branding are not dead and will outlast this blog. In fact there are so many blogs in the world and consumer generated content the tourist of tomorrow is becoming untrustworthy of such mediums. Looking to the future, it is mobile phone that is more inportant than the PC. 30% of hotel bookings in New York and Tokyo are on the day of arrival via the mobile phone. We are living in an instant and mobile society. Augmented reality will play a bigger role, although there is still a big role for tourist information centres. Anyway, got to go, as I am working on a article about knitting and the meetings industry
Wow, Dr. Yeoman, quite the “brain burst”.
Naturally the headline of the blog was designed to stimulate, so yup, marketing is far from dead… but marketers routed in traditional media and short tail (is that the opposite of long tail ?) are rapidly becoming instinct due to failure to adapt.
Long tail is another way of saying…. be where the customer is, don’t make them come to you… and yes, that future is.. mobile.
Enjoy your knitting, oh guru !