Marketing as you knew
is dead!
If you are not a Millennial and you have ever studied Marketing at your university or MBA program, well, here is the bad news, it’s dead.
The marketing of the industrial age was founded on realities of that period. That paradigm was of centralising, controlling and taking a unidirectional approach. Creating products, defining their features, defining functional and emotional benefits, set prices, select distribution channels and off you go. This approach changed in early 90’s. Now it was not just about pushing the products, but an aggressive promotion strategy was followed through abundance of above-the-line and below-the-line advertising, public relations, direct mailers, events etc.
The basic premise of Marketing concept was based on this thought of creating market driven products people want to buy. There was loss of control and shift had started towards the customer. Marketers realised the need to focus on customers, be more customer centric and promote your brand. Customer was becoming the hero and control was being decentralised. Product Management started to become more customers centric. The needs, wants and wishes of the customers started to be of more importance. The approach started to become more outside-in rather than inside-out. Consumer and market research became a vital part of the decision-making and marketing process. Many customer guinea pigs were born. Extensive research and analytics focused frameworks had become the new talk of town. Marketing was been taken seriously, and the whole process from strategy to execution was very well designed. Marketing had some key areas to focus on. The companies that delivered successfully on all these areas were perceived to be the best of the lot, and they certainly were.
But now there is a new generation of consumers, who are more dynamic, more knowledgeable, less attentive and extremely demanding. They have a different culture, they behave differently as consumers and are far more effective scrutinizers of product value. Customer centricity is no longer relevant, they want to be engaged, and they want to have the full control. They themselves are the value creators. The dynamics are changing and they are changing fast. New business models are emerging, which defy all the rules of marketing and product management. These new businesses are an instant hit on the box office. Consumers love them. Now you cannot predict how customers will see you, your product, and your brand. So it’s very important to be ahead of the change, rather lead the change. Companies need to give away the old and laggard marketing practices immediately and dive into the pool of new generation consumers. Be more transparent and more democratic. Share the control and take a more multidimensional approach.
Earlier customers were outside the boundaries of the firm and not really engaged in actual innovation, let alone in ongoing product and service co-creation. Now rather than a passive audience, the recipients are more, users, actors and collaborators. Involving them, engaging them and interacting with them at every level, is the key to success. Choosing customer journey instead of product journey is the future. The technology has changed, paradigm is no longer broadcast but building interactive relationships. The new media like social media are no longer one to many, it’s more like one-to-one and many-to-many, and they are totally unbiased. There is no single distribution channel or one place where you can promote your product to the customer. It has to be any place, any time, anyhow.
Needs and wants have become the hygiene factors, now experience is the new advantage. Product management has become a complex issue. Now the frameworks like pragmatic marketing framework will not work. There has to be more flexibility, every instant, every step of the journey. Product journey from strategy to execution has to be transformed into customer journey enhancing the experience at every touch point and also reacting and changing with every action of the customer, every time. Companies that create rich and enduring experiences, and maintain them, are the ones who will reach at the top of charts. Integrated customer experience platforms and effective use of technology will be the key mantra. Long live age old marketing… Alas!
The marketing of the industrial age was founded on realities of that period. That paradigm was of centralising, controlling and taking a unidirectional approach. Creating products, defining their features, defining functional and emotional benefits, set prices, select distribution channels and off you go. This approach changed in early 90’s. Now it was not just about pushing the products, but an aggressive promotion strategy was followed through abundance of above-the-line and below-the-line advertising, public relations, direct mailers, events etc.
The basic premise of Marketing concept was based on this thought of creating market driven products people want to buy. There was loss of control and shift had started towards the customer. Marketers realised the need to focus on customers, be more customer centric and promote your brand. Customer was becoming the hero and control was being decentralised. Product Management started to become more customers centric. The needs, wants and wishes of the customers started to be of more importance. The approach started to become more outside-in rather than inside-out. Consumer and market research became a vital part of the decision-making and marketing process. Many customer guinea pigs were born. Extensive research and analytics focused frameworks had become the new talk of town. Marketing was been taken seriously, and the whole process from strategy to execution was very well designed. Marketing had some key areas to focus on. The companies that delivered successfully on all these areas were perceived to be the best of the lot, and they certainly were.
But now there is a new generation of consumers, who are more dynamic, more knowledgeable, less attentive and extremely demanding. They have a different culture, they behave differently as consumers and are far more effective scrutinizers of product value. Customer centricity is no longer relevant, they want to be engaged, and they want to have the full control. They themselves are the value creators. The dynamics are changing and they are changing fast. New business models are emerging, which defy all the rules of marketing and product management. These new businesses are an instant hit on the box office. Consumers love them. Now you cannot predict how customers will see you, your product, and your brand. So it’s very important to be ahead of the change, rather lead the change. Companies need to give away the old and laggard marketing practices immediately and dive into the pool of new generation consumers. Be more transparent and more democratic. Share the control and take a more multidimensional approach.
Earlier customers were outside the boundaries of the firm and not really engaged in actual innovation, let alone in ongoing product and service co-creation. Now rather than a passive audience, the recipients are more, users, actors and collaborators. Involving them, engaging them and interacting with them at every level, is the key to success. Choosing customer journey instead of product journey is the future. The technology has changed, paradigm is no longer broadcast but building interactive relationships. The new media like social media are no longer one to many, it’s more like one-to-one and many-to-many, and they are totally unbiased. There is no single distribution channel or one place where you can promote your product to the customer. It has to be any place, any time, anyhow.
Needs and wants have become the hygiene factors, now experience is the new advantage. Product management has become a complex issue. Now the frameworks like pragmatic marketing framework will not work. There has to be more flexibility, every instant, every step of the journey. Product journey from strategy to execution has to be transformed into customer journey enhancing the experience at every touch point and also reacting and changing with every action of the customer, every time. Companies that create rich and enduring experiences, and maintain them, are the ones who will reach at the top of charts. Integrated customer experience platforms and effective use of technology will be the key mantra. Long live age old marketing… Alas!
