Catalyst S+F: Changing the Marketing Social Compact with Loyalists - Jim Nichols - MediaBizBloggers

In the traditional media model there was essentially an agreement that in exchange for free or very low cost information and entertainment the consumer would see and process ads That arrangement is evolving of course One of the most interesting aspects of that evolution is the need to deliver more value for a given amount of consumer attentionThat value can be an overt exchange like Solve Mediaamp8217s Captcha replacements that let consumers amp8220pay attentionamp8221 instead of money for premium content Or it can be a bit more indirect as with Red Bullamp8217s TV programming in Austria In that case the brand has entered the media business in order to amp8220deserveamp8221 the respect and loyalty of its youthful hip targetBut one of the most interesting changes is in brands recognizing that individual experience and attention are becoming an increasing important part of the equation Weamp8217ve gone from the world of my childhood where most people would accept service shortcomings as a part of life to one in which millions of people expect to be able to post a complaint or a kudo on Twitter and get an immediate responsePromotions and how they are targeted and structured are another interesting area of change Iamp8217m going to make a generalization here amp8211 that in the past most promotional activity was designed to get a new or lapsed user to connect or reconnect with a brand We hoped for example that a trial size or FSI coupon would attract new people or foster an incremental purchaseThere was something about that that always smelled fishy to me amp8211 that brands were far less likely to focus efforts on their best customers choosing instead to concentrate on getting brand switchers to buy today Think about all the times youamp8217ve heard amp8220Offer for new customers onlyamp8221 and simply accepted it as a standard marketing tacticItamp8217s clear that the socialization of media is bringing with it the need to focus on loyalists Becauseamp183 They are driving so much of the discussion and brand perception out there about our brandsamp183 They have great transparency into how and where we spend our moneyamp183 They have the power to evangelize or not our offerings to potentially HUGE audiences amp8211 so much so that the actions of a single individual can ripple into movement of our business needlesamp183 They EXPECT to be rewarded for loyalty with more than just the basic product experienceThatamp8217s the real importance of social in my view amp8211 the shift it requires in our thinking to caring about consumers as individuals and about ensuring a great product experience every time And when we donamp8217t provide one the willingness to admit our mistakes and try to make good on our product pledgeIamp8217ve been thinking about this a lot because so many of the next generation of digital media and promotional vehicles are focused on being better to users Like mobile platforms that deliver coupons to consumers in store for brands they were planning to buy anyway In the old days we used to call that amp8220subsidizing our usersamp8221 and it was considered about as bad as things got in marketing But the reality is that all promotional activities were subsidizing users itamp8217s just that the benefits went to the fickle instead of the loyalFrom a media perspective I think it means focusing a lot more advertising and marketing dollars on loyalists instead of irregular or lapsed users Not bombarding them with bad 728s but rather creating marketing experiences that add value to their lives One interesting example of this is Nearbuy Systems which helps retailers better please people already in their stores by offering hyperlocal services through their mobile phones Want to know where the Nutella is The platform can give you indoor turn by turn instructions to get you to within three feet of the jars of chocolaty goodness How cool is that It also lets users get immediate attention from real employees right where they are standingIamp8217ve never spoken to the people at Nearbuy but I use this as an example because it offers the contrast Of a retailer creating better brand experiences for people already in the aisles versus mailing a big splashy offer to fill transferred prescriptions for less money Or similar trial builder ployIamp8217m not suggesting that we forget trial as a marketing task but rather that we must place our best consumers at the head of the line for marketing largesse not at the foot They expect to be first in our minds And they deserve to be as wellJim Nichols is a Partner and Chief Strategist at Catalyst SF He can be reached at jimcatalystsfcomRead all Jim39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at The Marketing Capital ReportCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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Catalyst S+F: Changing the Marketing Social Compact with Loyalists - Jim Nichols - MediaBizBloggers

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