We live in a time when consumerism has a negative connotation. Who would have ever thought that too many choices would be a bad thing? But just as new technologies come up to market better to customers, there are ways for them to avoid the bombardment. Do Not Call lists, spam filters, TiVo - advertising free media is becoming increasingly popular.
Most forms of advertising is treated as noise these days. Advertising on web pages is as ubiquitous (and ignored) as the air we breathe. Which is why a new form of web advertising is to open a huge annoying pop-up that covers the entire page. Until you explicitly click on close, you will be subjected to flashy gimmicky messages. Marketers are getting increasingly aggressive and invasive. This causes consumers to think twice before subjecting themselves to any form of advertising that they can avoid. In such a distrustful environment, it makes sense to win back the consumers through responsible marketing. Obviously, so far this does not make business sense or it would have happened already. But there are technical advances that abet this - until it will be more profitable to advertise less.
The voice of the consumer is louder than ever. With the advancement of internet technologies and online applications, the opinion of one person counts for much more than it did five years ago. I could have a blog that condemns brand X and praises brand Y. I could post my opinion on "n" number of sites and I could post YouTube videos stating the same. This doesn't necessarily mean that companies need to re-strategize to appease me, but it does mean that if my opinion is heard, like-minded consumers could combine to create a more damaging effect. Viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising are popular again.
The result of these technological advances is that it has created a new type of consumer. A consumer that has easy access to a large amount of information. Now, this information may not always be correct, but that's a wildcard. The point is that, once a product has created enough buzz, the marketing process needs to adjust accordingly - which means, maintaining that excitement. Build the loyal consumer base and then let them do your work for you.
At this point, two questions come to mind 1. How does one build that loyal base? 2. What if you don't have a good product?
Unfortunately, I think responsible marketing does not cater to either of these cases. If you are a newcomer, or just trying to scam as many people as you can, you aren't really looking for the "right" thing to do. A newcomer's focus would be capturing market share and spreading as much of the word about the brand as possible. A scammer's focus would be on reaching out to as many targets as possible, in order to milk the select few that fall for the scam. The focus for these two groups clash against the principles behind responsible marketing.
Responsible marketing falls on the shoulders of the well established brands, that have entrenched themselves in our lives and do not need to worry about where to make the next quick buck. These brands are here to stay. It is their responsibility to lead the way, because, frankly, they can afford to. The Cokes and the Pepsis and the McDonalds don't need to pepper us with extraordinary amounts of advertising. We'll still eat the billion hamburgers and wash it down with the billion sodas. Such firms need to take a step back - consumers will do their work for them. Their target audience reflects their loyalties more than ever - they will get the word out.
For the big powerhouses, responsible marketing would constitute lesser interference with their consumer base. Let them come to the product rather than harass them with unending broadcasts. However, the real question is what constitutes responsible marketing? And that is a far more difficult and complex question to answer.
Most forms of advertising is treated as noise these days. Advertising on web pages is as ubiquitous (and ignored) as the air we breathe. Which is why a new form of web advertising is to open a huge annoying pop-up that covers the entire page. Until you explicitly click on close, you will be subjected to flashy gimmicky messages. Marketers are getting increasingly aggressive and invasive. This causes consumers to think twice before subjecting themselves to any form of advertising that they can avoid. In such a distrustful environment, it makes sense to win back the consumers through responsible marketing. Obviously, so far this does not make business sense or it would have happened already. But there are technical advances that abet this - until it will be more profitable to advertise less.
The voice of the consumer is louder than ever. With the advancement of internet technologies and online applications, the opinion of one person counts for much more than it did five years ago. I could have a blog that condemns brand X and praises brand Y. I could post my opinion on "n" number of sites and I could post YouTube videos stating the same. This doesn't necessarily mean that companies need to re-strategize to appease me, but it does mean that if my opinion is heard, like-minded consumers could combine to create a more damaging effect. Viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising are popular again.
The result of these technological advances is that it has created a new type of consumer. A consumer that has easy access to a large amount of information. Now, this information may not always be correct, but that's a wildcard. The point is that, once a product has created enough buzz, the marketing process needs to adjust accordingly - which means, maintaining that excitement. Build the loyal consumer base and then let them do your work for you.
At this point, two questions come to mind 1. How does one build that loyal base? 2. What if you don't have a good product?
Unfortunately, I think responsible marketing does not cater to either of these cases. If you are a newcomer, or just trying to scam as many people as you can, you aren't really looking for the "right" thing to do. A newcomer's focus would be capturing market share and spreading as much of the word about the brand as possible. A scammer's focus would be on reaching out to as many targets as possible, in order to milk the select few that fall for the scam. The focus for these two groups clash against the principles behind responsible marketing.
Responsible marketing falls on the shoulders of the well established brands, that have entrenched themselves in our lives and do not need to worry about where to make the next quick buck. These brands are here to stay. It is their responsibility to lead the way, because, frankly, they can afford to. The Cokes and the Pepsis and the McDonalds don't need to pepper us with extraordinary amounts of advertising. We'll still eat the billion hamburgers and wash it down with the billion sodas. Such firms need to take a step back - consumers will do their work for them. Their target audience reflects their loyalties more than ever - they will get the word out.
For the big powerhouses, responsible marketing would constitute lesser interference with their consumer base. Let them come to the product rather than harass them with unending broadcasts. However, the real question is what constitutes responsible marketing? And that is a far more difficult and complex question to answer.
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