Being Buzz-worthy

I found this week's lesson very interesting, especially Seth Godin's Ted Talk.  I thought everything he said was spot on.  Marketers can no longer push their messages on consumers like they use to because consumers simply don't care.  I am most definitely one of those consumers who skips commercials with DVR and deletes all the marketing emails I receive (I actually created a separate account so I don't even see them!).  The only way to get consumers (including me) to check out something new is for them to hear/see people talking about it.  I may delete emails, but I religiously check my social media accounts and if several people I know post or tweet about something I almost always check it out.  Therefore, it is the goal of companies to create something buzz-worthy that gets people talking.  One company that comes to mind that kind of started this movement of creating buzz was Godaddy.com.  They used prime expensive superbowl commercial space to create buzz, rather than explain who they were and what they did.  I along with I'm sure millions of others immediately went to godaddy.com after their commercials aired just to find out more about them.

I also thought the article "Death of Segmentation" was interesting.  The article talks about how companies targeting customers through segmentation is a way of the past.  With all of the data available to us now the way of the future is targeting individual consumers.  The author gave companies 18 months to make this transition.  This really makes we wonder about my company.  Just this past year we updated who our target segments were and I do not see any movement to individual targeting.  I feel the movement from segments to individuals will be a slower process, but I do think the companies that move first will be the most successful.  I hope my company doesn't get left behind in this movement.

The power of the people

This week's lesson is all about how the internet has give the power to the people.  Before the internet businesses use to be able to push product on the people and the people had no say in the matter.  Now the tables have turned.  The people now have a voice and it can make or break businesses.  In order to operate in this era the internet can not be ignored; it must be leveraged to your advantage.  I think this was made very clear in the article "why the groundswell and why now."  It was clear the people had spoken and wanted the DVD encryption number to be seen.  The DVD companies clearly didn't like this, ignored the people and made Digg take down the article.  The people then took matters into their own hands and posted the number all over the internet anyway.  The DVD companies should have listened to the people and worked with them rather than trying to silence them.

The internet must be used to a business' advantage or it will fail.  Their are all sorts of sight now that allow customers to write reviews on companies.  These reviews can really propel a company if the reviews are good and leveraged in the company's advertising.  On the flip side negative reviews can be the company's demise if they are ignored.  I have seen several company's now on Yelp responding to customer's negative reviews trying to make things write.  This is exactly what all company's need to be doing.  More often than not the customer writes an updated post saying what the company has done to turn things around and that now all is good.

Good or bad the crowd will be heard.  It's up to the company how they leverage it.

Emotionally Connecting with Consumers

This week's readings were all about how today's blogs and social media sites have forced marketers to rethink how they market to the customer.  We are moving out of segmented marketing into interactive marketing.  No longer is it okay to push your message onto your audience; today the audience has to invite you in to tell them your message.  It is harder to target an audience in a traditional way because people are watching less live TV and reading less and less print newspapers and magazines.  All of this has changed the way marketers get their messages across to customers.  With an incredible amount of information available at the click of a button people want more than just to hear what a company has to say, they want to interact with the company and feel they are a part of the process.

As a consumer I am grateful that this is they way the industry is moving.  I don't like feeling that messages/products are being forced upon me and when I do feel that way I easily turn the page/channel.  Companies needed something to rethink what the customer was to them; I think often times they took consumers for granted.  The consumer/company relationship should be a partnership, as both parties need each other.  One of the ways companies have started interacting with consumers is through twitter.  Companies are actually answer consumers tweets making each consumer feel important.  Another great example of companies interacting with consumers is Yelp.  I have seen several instances on yelp where people post a negative experience and the company responds and does whatever needed to make it up to the customer.

In addition to interacting with consumers online, I think this shift in marketing has also made companies really think out of the box on all marketing tactics.  Recently Coke came up with a brilliant marketing tactic of putting special Coke bottles on college campus that only opened when two bottles were put together and twisted.  This forced freshman college students to interact and meet one another.  Now Coke as created an emotional experience with their product.  These students will always remember meeting their friends over a Coke.  It isn't just about the company interacting with consumers, it's also about the company creating an emotional connection to the consumer.

Below is an article about the ingenious Coke marketing.

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-coke-designs-friendly-bottle-can-only-be-opened-another-bottle-157988