Make Marketing History

The views of a marketing deviant.

Monday, November 13, 2006

The J Train (A Marketing 2.0 Minifesto).





All Markets Are Up For Grabs.

It's no longer possible to control the conversation. While incumbents spend their time trying to cling to that belief, you have the opportunity to step in, reframe the discussion and win a new argument.

Difference Not Differentiation.

Customers have either too much stuff or not enough time and value current choices over substitutes. Minimise the behavioural change you demand of them, but give them a real reason or reasons to love your product/service.

Don't Disappoint.

Ensuring that everything works and instantly reacting to any problems is a given. Bad news travels much faster and wider than it did before. An informed customer is your best promotion but potentially your worst nightmare.

Make Your Marketing Sociable.

You can't control the conversation, but you can facilitate and, to some extent, host it in a way that allows you to build genuine relationships with potential customers rather than white-noise relationships with anyone you can bombard.

Interaction Requires Iteration.

It's not enough to listen and a single return path does not constitute a dialogue. Meaningful long-term connection with prospective customers can only come from community, co-operation and co-creation.

See The Wood For The Trees.

Don't assume you're like the customers. You're much closer to your business than they are or care to be. Find out what they're like. The shared interest at the heart of your relationship will probably not to be the product itself.

Relate, Renew and Reinvent.

If you want them to keep coming back to you, then you must keep coming back to them. It's not about new campaigns that look different. The new focus is more on product and customer development and less on explicit promotion.

Don't Forget To Sell.

Engagement is great but it doesn't pay the bills, so remember to sell. Selling is responding to the customer's interest when they choose to make the move. It's not about cutting deals, it is about making it easy for them to buy or trial.

Le ROI Est Mort.

Marketing cannot be a measurement-free zone, but increasingly its overall impact is indirect and qualitative. However, as engagement methods are less expensive than advertising, ROI will almost certainly rise and, crucially, with no increase in spending, it will continue to rise as your engagement intensifies.

Marketing Is Not A Department.

Marketing is a combination of elements that creates the environment in which it is possible to meet a customer need (starting right back at product development). It operates online and off and should inform and occupy every aspect and department of an organisation. More than ever before, it is everybody's job.



The J train that I used to ride from lower Manhattan out to JFK is synonomous for me with expanding horizons and (with its echoes of those trains called clue and hugh) it seemed an aptly contrived title for my rough draft minifesto on this evolving thing we call marketing 2.0.

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

John - Love what you said about marketing. It is everyone's job .. just as customer service is the job of everyone who touches the customer .. from the accounting department to bloggers.

5:49 PM, November 13, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

John - you should submit this over at ChangeThis as an abstract and write a manifesto for them. If you're not familiar with them - go check them out!!!

6:30 AM, November 14, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thankfully a much quicker read than the Faith Popcorn reports but just as interesting.

12:13 AM, November 16, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Le ROI Est Mort. lol! I agree that the qualitative aspects of marketing such as the social currency that the campaign provides are on the rise, but I think that marketing metrics such as ROI are increasingly important, and beneficial... especially thanks to Google.

1:04 AM, November 16, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Morning John;

I'm going to read your post 5-10 times over the next few days then comment in substance. Interim observations as follows:

[1] Generally a kick-*ss wonderful beginning! In particular because it is evident from the post that you are really beginning to think through the issues relating to the marketing function (and experience) as relevant today. (Vs. behind-the times old-fashioned and down-right stupid "status quo" marketing attitudes, ideas and methodologies).

[2] This post and the ideas as worked out by you in their present iteriation are already worthy of many "Diggs" and "Reddits". How do I do it! I'll try and figure it out today but if someone can help this ancient (increasingly fit) ancient guy out with this (for me) technological puzzle, it will be appreciated!

[3] I question the validity of your "Le ROI est mort" point and... I will think about it deeply before responding it detail. However at this point... my 35+ years of designing and implementing economic performance architectures for companies indicates that there is always a way to quantifiably measure the effectiveness of marketing spend.

AWESOME job John! Well Done!!!

2:57 AM, November 16, 2006  
Blogger john dodds said...

The ROI issue is a tough one - I'm basically coming from the perspective that an obsession with ROI leads to dishonesty. We all know that business plan assumptions are reverse engineered so that the ROI that falls out is within the Board's approval range.

I specifically emphasised that marketing cannot be a measurement-free zone. We should always measure the effectiveness of any tactical initiative - be that to determine the best web page or adword combination. However, I do worry that in marketing (especially in the pursuit of awards) a degree of direct causality is ascribed where none actually exists.

I have considered posting about this but have not worked through it yet - i thinbk its a very importnat issue. But in relation to marketing 2.0 my basic point (and neat pun) focusses on the fact that the new marketing is much more cost effective if only because it has to be cheaper than expensive TV advertising. Thus not overly worrying about ROI is a forgiveable starting point. But I'm not advocating that we totally ignore it.

11:02 AM, November 16, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amen. Amen. Amen.

3:05 PM, November 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love it and love the bit about engagement being great but it doesn't pay the bills. I think we are losing sight of the need to sell in our eagerness to cosy up to the customer.

10:23 AM, November 23, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post, thanks very much

3:14 PM, March 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BRILLIANT. SPOT ON. I cannot tell you how much I agree with everything you've written. Sounds like I'm reading my own words.

Thanks for summing up the trends so well.

7:49 AM, June 11, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This really good and solid information and advice I have a review blog for marketing and seo it is an online marketing reviews area where bought products are tested and the results published.

6:42 AM, March 07, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

3:35 AM, March 13, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Really good info there...

6:58 AM, March 18, 2008  
Blogger Unknown said...

I personally think the point about "Relate, Renew, Reinvent" is probably one of the most important factors in keeping old customers and gaining new ones. Great post!

Amanda,
owner of Personal Checks Company

8:44 AM, April 09, 2009  

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