The changing face of marketing

[Chatmaster]

Just a few years ago marketing was fairly simple. There were only a few magazines, a handful of newspapers and very few TV channels and radio stations.

Today that is completely different. The choice and options you have are 10 times more and the audience that you have are so much more diversified. It was much easier to do marketing in the days gone past.

Another thing that has changed its face is the number of competitors. More and more successful businesses that start up today are able to focus on niche markets that years ago would not have been viable on their own.

More and more businesses also change in terms of providing lateral income streams that focus on providing additional niche services that are remotely related to their core business.

All of these are signs that business is changing and that means that marketing is changing as well.

Marketing in most cases is a simple process of repeating advertising and spend money to make money. However this is changing dramatically as well. Gone are the tunnel view mindsets of keeping your business entirely to yourself. In today’s world you need to diversify marketing and work on networking within your business relations to be able to expand your horizons to streamline your income streams.

On the other hand consumer behavior has changed as well. Advertising are being ignored more and more by them and they seem much more skeptical than they have been in the past. If we think about changes in sport for example. Years ago Rugby was an amateur sport that had very little advertising. Today everything a Rugby player wears is sponsored from their head to their shoelaces have paid branding on it. All of this is an attempt by larger brands to stay visible.

This overwhelming amount of advertising has resulted in changes with the consumer and their behavior towards marketing. This directly affects marketing and the marketing strategies we as business have to employ to get the desired reaction from our consumers.

Marketing is a necessity and no matter what you do a business that doesn’t apply some kind of marketing strategy is doomed for failure. The old ways of advertising has become subliminal advertising as the consumers now know which areas to avoid being harassed by advertising and this awareness is done on a subconscious level. This means that repetition of advertising is required at a much higher frequency than before in order to be successful.

These changes between advertiser and consumer are happening at a faster and faster rate. Marketing becomes more and more subliminal for the consumer and advertising agencies are becoming more and more intrusive on the consumer to get the message through. This game is becoming more like open warfare!

How is your business coping with this greater than ever demand and increasing rate of demand? How are you adapting to increase the exposure of your brand? Did you even notice this happening?

[IanF]

Roelof,
Aren't you making a case to not adverise here if you have to increase the frequency. I feel if I see an ad from Pick n Pay and it is something I want I no longer keep the ad as Pick n Pay advertise so much I will see it again.
Why not try the opposite and have a genuine once off ad with a good once off offer. I feel this has more chance of being successful than the repetitions.

Marketing is a necessity and no matter what you do a business that doesn’t apply some kind of marketing strategy is doomed for failure. The old ways of advertising has become subliminal advertising as the consumers now know which areas to avoid being harassed by advertising and this awareness is done on a subconscious level. This means that repetition of advertising is required at a much higher frequency than before in order to be successful.

These changes between advertiser and consumer are happening at a faster and faster rate. Marketing becomes more and more subliminal for the consumer and advertising agencies are becoming more and more intrusive on the consumer to get the message through. This game is becoming more like open warfare!

What do the marketers say?

[Chatmaster]

Roelof,
Aren't you making a case to not adverise here if you have to increase the frequency. I feel if I see an ad from Pick n Pay and it is something I want I no longer keep the ad as Pick n Pay advertise so much I will see it again.
Why not try the opposite and have a genuine once off ad with a good once off offer. I feel this has more chance of being successful than the repetitions.

The case I am making is that advertising is changing. Just having a price list with your products will not have the same effect as years ago. Repetition with certain advertising media is unfortunately essential. Placing one advert in the newspaper will not have a response as most marketers will tell you. Even if you place the add on the front page, you will need to repeat the add several times before it will become successful. There are other factors at play as well and it is not that clear cut but essentially repetition is one of the main ways that current ad agencies and big budget marketers are doing things. That is why advertising is such a big industry. How ever if they do not catch on with times they might soon find themselves in a bit of trouble. They will need to change their strategies.

Merging marketing strategies into a super marketing strategy is becoming more and more important. Therefor including different departments under one umbrella might be something we will see more often in bigger companies. For example there is a lot of synergy between Public relations, marketing and IT departments. Although on the surface it might seem they have different roles and they are currently being treated that way by many companies, however they are becoming more and more related, because the future of marketing is changing to include the merger of more resources to accomplish successful marketing campaigns.

Your point about a genuine once off ad is a very good point. IMO just advertising will not work nearly as well as a good promotion accompanied by a viral campaign and good prizes. However the public already has many choices there as well and repetition might still be required.

[staffrepublic]

Ja, I too find that South Africans have short memories and one has to keep plugging services/or products in their faces before they actually take any notice. If you don't visit/call often enough, they simply grab whoever is available at the time, fall on their bekke when things go badly, then call you to complain. But they definitely do need to be reminded often and always. Sefricans for you!

[Dave A]

Remember I said I just had a feeling there is a new way of markering out there? Yes, oh yes, I have found it! I know so little about marketing that it might have been done before but I doubt it.

I hope when the time is right, you will share it

Is Durban safe? Which areas can one look at?

The main danger for that particular migration might not be the locals.

Ian's right. Umhlanga Rocks is "safe." Probably the highest risk area would be Durban central beach front or isolated beachfront areas.

[Alta Murray]

Oh, you are so right -- the locals are fine, it's the other matrics that drink ad infinitum and are there to have a 'good time', and they do act up and out. Also they will be a mixed group of boys and girls from all races, and you know how some people tend to react.

I am very worried, but this too shall pass....or I shall pass out, either or.

[Dave A]

I agree that marketing a business through all the noise has become more challenging than ever. However, I find that exciting rather than a problem.

In fact, I don't understand the problem. Nowadays we're spoilt for choice as to how to go about it.

[duncan drennan]

Flipping the Funnel by Seth Godin is certainly worth a read.

[Chatmaster]

Now that is a great read, thanks for sharing Duncan! Seth is exceptional in so many ways.

[Dave A]

A great read indeed.

Thinking about it, we're back to turning customers into evangelists - just making it easier (and possibly even personally rewarding) to do so.

It does pose an interesting challenge, however. Somehow, you need to make your offering exceptional. Worth talking about. Our delivery needs to exceed expectations. This makes the service department a vital component in the marketing plan.