The death of traditional marketing

If like me, you work within the marketing industry, be ready for at least 5 years of massive change. The choice of channels and media has never been more diverse. We have the ability to deliver bespoke messages to highly targeted audiences, create online ads that follow people around the internet and then provide detailed response rates to our clients. So putting messages in front of people is the easy bit. Delivering reach is no longer much of a skill. What is more challenging is connecting with people in a way that turns them into customers. The ability to create campaigns that connect is now what is required.

The power of word of mouth marketing is a given but now it has evolved and become massively amplified. Imagine, you are about to enter a restaurant, and before stepping inside one of your mates leaps out of no where and tells you the food is terrible and the service is diabolical. After you have recovered from the shock I’m guessing you would immediately think about going somewhere else. What if he then suggested a great alternative close by? Chances are you’d give it a go. This behaviour is exactly what is happening online every second of every day and is only set to increase.

SMART technology is making people smarter and more informed about what products and services are on offer anywhere in the world. They can also quickly learn what friends, followers and other customers have said about the quality and value of what they have purchased and experienced. The lazy mass marketing campaigns of the past that incorporated a standard formula of TV, Radio, Press, Outdoor and ….”Oh and we better knock up a little website as well” are over.

Look at the recent campaign for Old Spice - 200 YouTube videos produced by Wieden+Kennedy in 48 hours. Time to accept we are all going to have to do more with less or change our revenue models.What about being paid on results? With Google, the ad world’s frenemey, offering hugely powerful media buying and research tools, all for free, it is hard to see how existing agency models can survive.

Marketing companies need to think like businesses partners focussed on helping clients to create better products and customer experiences to differentiate them from their competitors. It is not about helping clients make their products look great, it is all about helping them make their products really great.