Neo-Marketing: How New media and Consumer Habits have Changed the Game

A focussed critique of appropriate marketing in an era of the burgeoning potential of social media and Internet realities.

Shakespeare:  "Julius Caesar" Act IV

'There is a tide in the affairs of men

which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune.

...On such a full sea we are now afloat...'

Introduction

Traditional marketing tools, notions, assumptions and concepts are experiencing significant challenges as newer, faster more focused delivery capacities have entered the fray, and are establishing themselves in today`s rapidly changing environments.

The Internet as Impact 

• The enormous and ever-widening base of the Internet is Shakespeare's present day 'tide'. Social media is the 'flood'. Social media, as an evolving means of communication within organizations, is a compelling reality. It is inherently capable of intra-organizational communication both 'upwards' and 'downwards', as well as 'outwards' to clients, customers and other key elements of the organizational environment. It can, and it will  move from its  'play-thing' beginnings to become a mainstream diversified and manageable flood for marketing initiatives.
• This mind-numbing potential for effective communication both internally and externally has stirred, within organizations big and small, a growing impatience with traditional  approaches to marketing. The call is  for more meaningful, more productive engagement with customers, clients, employees and other key contacts. Tolerance is fading for many traditional 'old school', worn-out, and unproductive marketing  methods. There is a growing fascination with venturing into promotional areas and techniques that have lain untouched for too long,
• The breakaway speed and incredible depth of the Internet is under-used by many 'Old school' practitioners. They continue their dependence upon such things as: direct mailing, print-ads, circulars, and TV and radio ads. Clearly these  represent fundamentally inaccurate assumption about the nature of the customer and employee bases. They reflect a 'top down' philosophy that emphasizes 'telling', and ignores opportunities for 'listening', 'engagement' and 'sharing'. 

Out with the 'Old', In with the 'New'

• A new school will replace the old one. It is inevitable. It will feature a marketing stance that is more respectful of the sense, and potential of 'two-way communication' where the 'telling' (downward ) is augmented , enhanced, and made richer by 'listening' and 'sharing' (upward).
• Social media is no longer the gimmicky thing it was. It is now a mainstream reality that continues to evoke surprise and wonder. But that phase is passing too. The pop-up toaster was once a novelty...
• Social media as an essential and integrated component of marketing will allow for sharing of views and information, it will be better informed, thoughtful and incisive. It will capture more informed opinions from customers and clients about the products and services that they are buying and using. Internal information flows between and amongst management and staff will be enriched.
• For all intents and purposes, social media is inexpensive. It's potential, properly harnessed, is rich and abundant. If properly developed and nurtured as a mainstream vehicle for the organization, it can become a long-term embedded presence for continual discovery.

The Enduring Challenge

...On such a full sea we are now afloat.

And we must take the current when it serves.

Or lose our ventures.

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Canada Anti Spam Legislation is Changing the Game for Business

The business world is about to be changed. For some it's for the better and for some it's a serious concern. The ones that recognise this is for the better are those in business that realize that times are changing and the world of junk mail and spam have come to an end, and now is the time to modernize the way we should be engaging our business communities.

Passed by the Canadian Federal Government in 2010, CASL will take effect on July 1, 2014. The largest impact for business will be no longer being able to send unsolicited emails to their contact lists.

Frequently businesses engage in the practice of harvesting email addresses and adding them to contact lists. Although proven effective early on in our short Internet history, people have become wary of unsolicited email, reporting spam and demanding some intervention by government.

So now what? Now the businesses have to adapt to the new reality that "spam-time" is over, and a new methods for marketing their product or service are in order. The good news is there are alternatives, but for some businesses it will be difficult to make the mental adjustment.

Bottom up thinking, and community engagement is the new reality. With unprecedented functionality, the Internet provides the business and the consumer the opportunity to engage in a mutually beneficial two way conversation. Businesses have to recognize the value of an engaged consumer and respect the ongoing relationship established by this engagement.

It closely resembles an ongoing cocktail party, where businesses act as the host continually circulate and having one-on-one discussions with guests in a never ending social setting. You would not start handing out flyers part way through your party as you would at best confuse your guests as to the nature of their relationship with you, or at worst offend the guest by trying to impose on them something they didn't ask for.

Instead businesses need to start letting their guests choose their own course within your online engagement, and the job of the business "hosting the party" is to ensure the guests have a healthy variety of subjects of interest to select from. 

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