Redefining the Marketing Paradigm NEW AGE MEDIA
Marketers will stay ahead by being responsive to consumers’ decision-making process and creative use of new-age media
Change, it is said, is the only constant in life. In the dynamic environment in which organisations operate today, this is all the more relevant in terms of the pace of change. The very unpredictability of the environment poses a challenge to marketing professionals. How does one connect with the consumer? More importantly, how does one decipher the dormant changes that are triggering a consumer’s psyche and impacting the buying process? To answer these questions, a study by McKinsey covering 20,000 companies spanning the five sectors of automobiles, skincare, insurance, consumer electronics and mobile telecom reveals some interesting insights. Consumers are connecting with brands in new ways that extend beyond the control of manufacturers and retailers. Earlier consumers would, for instance, ‘winnow through’ brands to arrive at choices termed the ‘funnel metaphor’. This is no longer the case. Today’s mantra is engagement and peer advocacy. The traditional mass or paid media, technically termed the ‘working media’, is now losing ground to ‘owned media’ (like company channels and websites) and ‘earned media’ (customer-created channels such as blogs, opinion forums, tweets and communities). Given the influx of new-age media, consumers today inadvertently go through a process of engaging with multiple brands and options in tandem as opposed to the earlier iterative manner of selection. This has led to a decrease in the consumer decision journey prior to shortlisting of options before purchase. Marketers who are not sensitive to this change are prone to lose track of their core objectives: building customer loyalty and brand revenues. Resource allocation would, in turn, emanate after an understanding of the important aspects that determine consumer touch points, leading to the right choice of communication channels. Organisations that have smartly changed their marketing strategies in line with this have succeeded in generating better market penetration, customer retention, market growth and margins. A case in point is the iconic motorcycle brand Harley Davidson, the focus being on pride of ‘belongingness’ through memorable and exclusive life experiences. The world’s leading brand Apple demonstrates its innovative approach to seamlessly connect with its customers through innovative ideas that excite and engage. For instance, its offer of an ‘offline genius bar’ is a masterstroke in generating a high degree of involvement and interest, allowing existing and prospective customers to address and get answers for product and operational queries, online and in real time. The case of Dell computers provides another example of tapping consumer insights for use in new product development and for improving existing ones. The Dell Idea Storm successfully collaborated with diverse consumer groups to garner over 400 new ideas from diverse consumers. The company smartly deployed these, recognising the contributors and applying these for improving existing product features and for developing new ones. The result: a big jump in customer loyalty and the company’s reputation. In the skincare segment, Dove, with its Dove hair damage control shampoo, hit upon viral marketing as a concept to engage and enhance peer advocacy amongst its young and beautyconscious female segment group by providing hair damage control meters to its users. The resultant buzz created through blogs and tweets helped the brand gain significantly. A creative deployment of a difficultto-replicate consumer engagement programme was demonstrated by the Home Depot Inc, an Atlanta-based retail chain, during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. This helped it hugely increase its website and store traffic flow. The store employed 450 athletes training for the Olympic and Paralympics games and offered them a flexible work week with full-time pay and benefits. The athletes were asked to don orange aprons and work in the aisles of the stores. This helped develop a chain of association with the games and build a unique promotion. The result was increased awareness, equivalent to having every American hear or see its story twice. The stores obtained over 40,000 registrations! New-age media provides marketing professionals with considerable scope to generate innovative solutions that can dynamically connect them with their demanding consumers. An ability to think beyond the routine, openness to co-create concepts and ideas with diverse consumer groups by recognising the power of advocacy groups as third-party influencers can help organisations stay ahead through innovative and creative practices that demonstrate thought leadership.
EXPERT VIEW
Vijay Vancheswar
PROFESSOR (MARKETING) IMI
ET121208
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