The future of advertising is already here. An industry that has traditionally been owned by agency executives and their clients has completely changed hands; brands, ideas, actions, and social change movements are driven by consumers, and they won’t be surrendering ownership any time soon.
Given the consumer-generated nature of most activity happening on the internet, it may appear to be an insurmountable challenge to marketers; our messaging isn’t really ours anymore and user reviews can make or break our brands. Our B-to-C power has been hijacked. However, close observation of online activity inspires a simple solution; brand interaction.
Despite a technological boom, people still crave – nay, demand the person to person attentiveness and excellent customer service it always did. Even if they opt in for newsletters, coupons, ads, etc, people don’t want to be “marketed” to. They want to interact with the brand and they want a good deal. This simple, yet key understanding forces marketers to think completely differently about how to approach strategic marketing plans, messaging and communication channels, which, by the way, should be 360 degrees. Marketers will have to do away with traditional B-to-C marketing and evolve strategic communications plans to become B-to-C-to-B-to-C (business-to-consumer-back to business-back to consumer-to other consumers), whereby a large community of influencers owns your brand and brand messaging.
Sherry LeCocq
Public Relations Account Manager
Mood: Limitless
