As Seth Godin rightfully puts it, "The cost of inventing, prototyping, manufacturing and especially advertising a new thing, concept, service or organization is a tiny fraction of what it used to be. In some industries, you can do it for 1% of what it used to cost."
So where does that leave you?
Now, you realize, that all of a sudden you have 50 more competitors, all selling the same stuff, all competing for the limited attention and delivering at best, an okay product with too many features that perhaps results in mediocre benefits for your end-user. So what are you to do?
We all acknowledge that we are living in a fast changing environment. Technology has permeated the everyday life of the marketer. And, we have all come to the grasp that, marketing is no longer about "creating a myth and selling; now it's about finding a truth and sharing it.” Because, you cannot be selling a myth in a transparent, technological age where everyone is watching your every move. At the end of the day, people expect truth, transparency and real-time engagement. This puts a huge burden on marketing. But, it also helps your organization to be more open "to ways to deliver on the purpose outside the specific products you sell while at the same time being very clear about what is part of the purpose and what is outside the purpose." Above all, find a way to be relevant to your end users all the time. Google and Apple have achieved high brand capital because we engage with them all the time. It is seamleass, it is sub-conscious and it has become a part of our social psyche and our social behavior. These brands do not have to fight for our attention. They have embedded themselves in our daily doings.
We all acknowledge that we are living in a fast changing environment. Technology has permeated the everyday life of the marketer. And, we have all come to the grasp that, marketing is no longer about "creating a myth and selling; now it's about finding a truth and sharing it.” Because, you cannot be selling a myth in a transparent, technological age where everyone is watching your every move. At the end of the day, people expect truth, transparency and real-time engagement. This puts a huge burden on marketing. But, it also helps your organization to be more open "to ways to deliver on the purpose outside the specific products you sell while at the same time being very clear about what is part of the purpose and what is outside the purpose." Above all, find a way to be relevant to your end users all the time. Google and Apple have achieved high brand capital because we engage with them all the time. It is seamleass, it is sub-conscious and it has become a part of our social psyche and our social behavior. These brands do not have to fight for our attention. They have embedded themselves in our daily doings.
John Hagel, management consultant from Deloitte & Touche states that the business of creating wealth is no longer about funding or innovation or about the supply chain managment. The new battle ground is the battle for human attention.
"The new scarcity = attention; there has been a profound shift in business economics from shelf space as the key scarce resource to people's time and attention."Marketing has changed from pushing brand advertisements out to enticing and pulling brand advocates towards you. John says, you do it in 3 steps:
Attract - Design, devlop and understand the context of the need of your target audience. Then, motivate people to find you and give them some compelling reasons to do business with you.
Assist - Educate your end users. Find ways to help people, both before and after the purchase of the product. Even if that means, that you have to send business away to some one else, because their solution is a better fit than yours.
Affiliate - "Instead of one-to-one marketing, the affiliate idea suggests bringing in any and all participants that could be helpful to the prospective buyer at relevant points in time. It’s about creating a broader ecosystem of participants who can be more and more helpful to the customers you’re trying to reach.That’s a very different model that goes against the most basic assumptions of traditional push-based marketing."
Generational change and technological transmutation is the key driver for this shift.So, what you do with this information? How do you make it for you?
For starters, know your existing customers. (For example, I am a lifer when it comes to using Adobe products. Yet, every single time, I log into Adobe cloud they are clueless as to who I am and what programs I use or better yet, I get an e-mail from them expressing my interest in their products. Sorry Adobe. Hopefully you are working towards getting better at it.)
"The new scarcity = attention; there has been a profound shift in business economics from shelf space as the key scarce resource to people's time and attention."Marketing has changed from pushing brand advertisements out to enticing and pulling brand advocates towards you. John says, you do it in 3 steps:
Attract - Design, devlop and understand the context of the need of your target audience. Then, motivate people to find you and give them some compelling reasons to do business with you.
Assist - Educate your end users. Find ways to help people, both before and after the purchase of the product. Even if that means, that you have to send business away to some one else, because their solution is a better fit than yours.
Affiliate - "Instead of one-to-one marketing, the affiliate idea suggests bringing in any and all participants that could be helpful to the prospective buyer at relevant points in time. It’s about creating a broader ecosystem of participants who can be more and more helpful to the customers you’re trying to reach.That’s a very different model that goes against the most basic assumptions of traditional push-based marketing."
Generational change and technological transmutation is the key driver for this shift.So, what you do with this information? How do you make it for you?
For starters, know your existing customers. (For example, I am a lifer when it comes to using Adobe products. Yet, every single time, I log into Adobe cloud they are clueless as to who I am and what programs I use or better yet, I get an e-mail from them expressing my interest in their products. Sorry Adobe. Hopefully you are working towards getting better at it.)
- Start with getting to know 20% of your clients. Who are they? What does a typical day in their life look like?
- Do you know what products or services they consume? Do you use this information to optimize your revenue and create new revenue paths?
- Do you engage with them on an on-going conversation?
- Do you connect with them to co-create new products and services?
- And, above all what are you doing to inspire them to become your brand ambasssadors? In other words, what are you doing in acquiring and holding their attention?
For example we are in the business of design and building exhibits. But, in the broader context we help our clients to market their products. We get involved in the strategy session involving pre and post show exhibiting. Infact, we help our clients develop ways to keep the conversation going even after the trade show have long ended. Now you see, we bo longer designers, builders and manufacturers, we have transfoormed ourselves into idea generators and skilled educators. (Though this is a Skyline platform, and, I usually avoid using it as a platform for our propaganda, in this case I made a conscious effort to do so, to explain engagement in a broader context.)
The digital medium allows us to gather phenomenal insights on our customers and cater tailored solutons depending on their needs. So do not wait for your customers to come to you for solutions. As hagel puts it, be the trusted advisor to them and say, “You know, I have some information about you and based on that information I can give you some recommendations that are going to be really valuable to you and save you time and money." This is yet another way of holding the attention and maximizing the tenure of your value in their eyes.
We are living in very interesting times. In an era of cross-disciplinary pollination, we are undergoing through a techtonic shift in mindset. Since, marketing is in the forefront of it, you, marketers have to be now acquainted with the new metrics.
Hagel predicts, the new ROI is no longer Return on Investment, it is Return on Information. "It’s return on information. It’s starting to track carefully how much it costs to accumulate information about a customer and divide that by what I can earn by using that information more effectively. And, the traditional Return on Assets has to be phased out by the emergence of the new player, Return on Attention. "It is the economic value of that attention, which is the value of the relationship that you can expect based on that attention."
If you have liked this piece you will love these developing trends in brand marketing.
The digital medium allows us to gather phenomenal insights on our customers and cater tailored solutons depending on their needs. So do not wait for your customers to come to you for solutions. As hagel puts it, be the trusted advisor to them and say, “You know, I have some information about you and based on that information I can give you some recommendations that are going to be really valuable to you and save you time and money." This is yet another way of holding the attention and maximizing the tenure of your value in their eyes.
We are living in very interesting times. In an era of cross-disciplinary pollination, we are undergoing through a techtonic shift in mindset. Since, marketing is in the forefront of it, you, marketers have to be now acquainted with the new metrics.
Hagel predicts, the new ROI is no longer Return on Investment, it is Return on Information. "It’s return on information. It’s starting to track carefully how much it costs to accumulate information about a customer and divide that by what I can earn by using that information more effectively. And, the traditional Return on Assets has to be phased out by the emergence of the new player, Return on Attention. "It is the economic value of that attention, which is the value of the relationship that you can expect based on that attention."
If you have liked this piece you will love these developing trends in brand marketing.
As, I write this piece, the marketing world is changing; and with it the imminent change in conducting business. This change is being demanded by savvy, empowered consumers who is not swayed by the big media instigated "brand essence". Today, the elusive consumers want relevant and on-time messages. The best way to covey it to them is through experiences that are personally relevant, memorable, sensory, emotional and meaningful.
"Return on Experience" is the marketing buzz word of the 21st century. “Experiential marketing is leading the way into the new marketing paradigm.” Know your target demographics. Deliver a memorable experience at every touch point. You are bound to succeed.
Prof. Bernd H. Schmitt, director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership of Columbia Business School writes, “Today, customers take product quality and a positive brand image as a given,”........"What they want is products, communications, and marketing campaigns that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds – that deliver an experience.” In his book Experiential Marketing, Prof Schmitt discusses 5 strategic experiential modules of Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate that form the basis of experiential marketing.
(At the risk of being shamefully aggressive), with pride we may say Skyline Mirage is the perfect back wall for busy trade show exhibitors who are penetrating in small vertical markets. The experience is delivered in the ease of set up. Developing this product some 30 odd years ago, Skyline related to the multifaceted challenges of an exhibitor and since then, Mirage has undergone various evolutionary phases to evolve in its final form as self locking Mirage Plus.
Companies that deliver the right experience to customers will succeed in this tough competitive market place. Trade shows are great venues where your prospects and your clients get to feel and experience your brand. To deliver a memorable experience, use innovative approaches to engage your visitors in creative and interactive ways. For example, ask your customers to write down in a white board (which very well can be part of your back wall) the defining verbs that come to their mind when using your product.
Cause-marketing activities is another proven way to deliver a memorable, soul soothing experience. Allos Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in anti-cancer therapeutics, crafted its philanthropic, in-booth activity around a quilt donation to cancer patients. Eager to support cancer patients, attendees happily completed the activity — adding messages such as “Life is a gift!” and “May hope, faith, and courage be your guiding light today and always.” Allos would sew the completed squares into as many quilts as possible, each one of which would be donated to a cancer center for distribution to patients.......A compelling marketing campaign that touched hearts and inspired minds.
"Return on Experience" is the marketing buzz word of the 21st century. “Experiential marketing is leading the way into the new marketing paradigm.” Know your target demographics. Deliver a memorable experience at every touch point. You are bound to succeed.
Prof. Bernd H. Schmitt, director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership of Columbia Business School writes, “Today, customers take product quality and a positive brand image as a given,”........"What they want is products, communications, and marketing campaigns that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds – that deliver an experience.” In his book Experiential Marketing, Prof Schmitt discusses 5 strategic experiential modules of Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate that form the basis of experiential marketing.
(At the risk of being shamefully aggressive), with pride we may say Skyline Mirage is the perfect back wall for busy trade show exhibitors who are penetrating in small vertical markets. The experience is delivered in the ease of set up. Developing this product some 30 odd years ago, Skyline related to the multifaceted challenges of an exhibitor and since then, Mirage has undergone various evolutionary phases to evolve in its final form as self locking Mirage Plus.
Companies that deliver the right experience to customers will succeed in this tough competitive market place. Trade shows are great venues where your prospects and your clients get to feel and experience your brand. To deliver a memorable experience, use innovative approaches to engage your visitors in creative and interactive ways. For example, ask your customers to write down in a white board (which very well can be part of your back wall) the defining verbs that come to their mind when using your product.
Cause-marketing activities is another proven way to deliver a memorable, soul soothing experience. Allos Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in anti-cancer therapeutics, crafted its philanthropic, in-booth activity around a quilt donation to cancer patients. Eager to support cancer patients, attendees happily completed the activity — adding messages such as “Life is a gift!” and “May hope, faith, and courage be your guiding light today and always.” Allos would sew the completed squares into as many quilts as possible, each one of which would be donated to a cancer center for distribution to patients.......A compelling marketing campaign that touched hearts and inspired minds.