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