We live in exciting times; this year’s election campaign showed just how marketing techniques have changed with the inaugural TV debates completely dominating the views of the electorate and causing huge changes in popularity for the party leaders that took everyone, including them, by surprise. Equally unexpected was that the impact of social media was not as strong as predicted beforehand when people were anticipating the Obama effect. So what does that teach us? Only that we, as brand marketers, can’t dominate the conversation any more.
Even with top class on the job training and continuing professional development, these are challenging times for brand marketers who were trained to believe that their job is to influence consumer behaviour through persuasive brand messages. But is anyone listening any more? The consumer is more powerful than ever before and has access to more information than our predecessors could have dreamed of.
And, where information used to only normally be available from the brand owner, and therefore controlled, the voices that prospective consumers listen to when making a purchase is their peer group, over which the brand owner has no control. The Internet and Google allow me to search for anything and interrogate the information without any recourse to a brand owner.
Then think of the success of comparison information sites such as Trip Advisor; I would never book a hotel abroad now without checking it out here first. I can choose to ignore what other reviewers say, but their comments will form part of my purchasing decision. Then, having made a choice, there are a number of ways that I can exercise that purchase either directly with the brand owner or via a third party, using the internet to compare cost and other parameters of my purchasing decision.
So is it a lost cause for tomorrow’s brand owners? Definitely not! There are still things that the smart brand owner can do to compete in this new emerging marketplace. The first is to embrace the change. Acknowledge that consumers want information and that they will comment on their experience of your brand. Don’t look to try and control all messaging; brand owners that take down negative comments from social media platforms or reviews from websites are just seen by consumers to be out of touch and their actions will further alienate their brand. Instead, engage with your consumers. Respond to negative, as well as positive, criticism. Being seen to be human and honest is a strong start to being seen as a brand for the 21st century.
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