What I have preached for years is wrong.
Not all consumers want to be in control.
There are two types of consumers now out in the marketplace…
those who actively define their needs and then emotionally seek out products,
services and brands that deliver against the need… and those who follow the
leader and do as told.
For years, I preached to my clients… and wrote about it this
blog… that the old business model of build it and the consumers would come buy
it is dead.
That is not totally true.
I got into a debate with two media reps this past week.
One works for a radio station and the other a
newspaper.
I was working with each of the two in the development of an
interactive web strategy campaign.
When I shared with each rep the mechanics of a very niche
targeted approach to reach a client’s best opportunity consumer, each of the
two reps voiced very strong defense, and voiced it quickly, that they were very
uncomfortable with the approach.
Why the discomfort?
Because the amount of people reached would be very limited
and that was totally against their model of effective marketing strategy.
I asked each one if they truly believed that if a marketer
banged away their message among a broad reach of audience groups multiple times
that the recipients of the messages would walk just like ZOMBIES and go buy the
product.
They both said, “yes, that’s how the marketplace works…
that’s what we are taught and that is how we are trained to sell media.”
Okay.
In the past, I have placed blame on the professors who teach
advertising in college.
But… now, I cannot place total blame on the professors.
These are the folks who watch the ZOMBIES in the CarMax ads
follow the word “Start” on the ground and then look up at the CarMax
sales guy.
These are the same folks who relish the banks and investment
companies where they can just hand over their savings and the banks and
investment companies will make them millionaires.
These are the ZOMBIES who voted in a presidential candidate
that very openly believes that the federal government knows better how to spend
dollars.
And these are the ZOMBIES who believe that Bloomberg, the
NYC Mayor will guide them on what to best eat and drink.
I rest my case… there is a portion of the consumer marketplace
that have run from the process of thinking and now, have elected to simply
follow whatever they are told to do.
To be honest, I publish this blog in the hopes that any
prospective clients that visit our website and read the blog realize that we do
make moral choices regarding what type of brands and organizations we refuse to
entertain.
I remember back in my college days that the ad and marketing
professors would lecture about business ethics and they asked the class if
anyone had an issue with taking on a tobacco or alcohol client.
One of my professors asked the class if we would even
entertain taking on a GOP political candidate or pro-life or church group.
Just so that blog readers know, we have worked with several
alcohol candidates, the Baptist Sunday School Board and a mix of GOP, DNC and
Indy politicians.
We have not and will not work with a tobacco company.
We once did some consulting for a condom manufacturer… but
in the end, it was really not as fun as it could have been.
We were asked to evaluate the use of colors. We came back and said that the
candidate should consider cartoon characters.
The client thought we were too crazy and declined to hire us.
In addition to my distaste for the ZOMBIE Followers… I also
refuse to work with companies and brands that capitalize on it for moral
reasons.
No product… no service… no cause… and God forbid… no
politician is of any value if they dig so low as to take on the ZOMBIE
marketing approach.
Having blog posted all of these thoughts, there is one other
observation I will share… when there are ZOMBIES… there just might be
opportunity to evangelize and preach a born-again experience.
We just celebrated Easter and Jesus and his message of
salvation.
There are elements of both Rome and the Jewish leadership
back then that is very similar to the MBA Empire and Corporate leadership of
today.
Jesus’ message centered around situational morality and
individual accountability.
Marketing and branding today boils down to the same
base…especially given the rise of the consumer ZOMBIES.
Posts
4 comments:
Gosh Mark, I thought you'd be using sheep as your analogy instead of ZOMBIES. Staying within the Jesus theme it just seems like a better description. Sort of a mixed metaphor I think, but I do recognize that ZOMBIES are very popular these days for whatever reason and acknowledge that Lazarus was the Adam of ZOMBIES - and he is was the direct result of actions taken by Jesus. So I guess your analogy sort of holds, but is precarious at best.
Back to your point, yes, there will always be sheep out there looking to be led. There would not be the fashion industry as we know it today without them. Automotive design, and hell, just design in general would have stalled out long ago. Folks have always liked to be led. Told what to wear, where to travel, what to buy, what to eat and not to eat. Bloomberg knows this. And while it might be especially true of New Yorkers, there's bound to be some trickle of this characteristic into the populations of the other states.
Advertising wholly relies of this type of sheepishness. That's why broadcast TV advertising- when it's done correctly -refuses to relinquish its role as the biggest, broadest reaching, most effective (and expensive) medium there is. If you want to change consumer behavior, tell them what to do, buy, eat and wear, do it through the biggest, baddest sheppard out there - the :30 second spot on broadcast TV.
Interesting commentary on the :30 spot on Broadcast TV. Clinging to the hope of the large viewership base is somewhat of a vision from the past. First to say that there is always the dream of the Super Bowl and Final Four Championship... but those high rating shows of the past have faded with the onrush of the Internet.
My hope is that the ZOMBIES will be on the decline.
Using the analogy of the sheep... they get their fur shaved often, but jump off the cliff only once. After that, the Darwinian philosophy takes hold. They will eventually fade from existence.
BTW... if you think that the fashion designers are the leaders... you obviously do not dwell much in Bohemia-ville. Here in the ATL... a visit to Little Five helps ground where the real fashionistas reside!
Five Points is all about vintage. One aspect of the current fashion trend.
I'll amend my comment to include Cable and phone co TV as broadcast in the modern sense. Madmen, Breaking Bad, Weeds, Vikings, The Bible , etc. are the new wide audience medium. And the :30 spot rules there.
And that's Lemmings (and pigs, if you keep within the Bible analogy) that jump off of cliffs. Not sheep.
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