I hear more and more from marketing and business pundits that we’re moving into a NEW AGE OF MARKETING where the rules have changed: consumers are now in charge, consumers now have the power to build or destroy brands. In this new era, it has been said, marketers must enter into the online conversation and involve consumers in the development of products, services and the marketing messages themselves.
This new era is no different than the old era. The only difference is the digital megaphone that the internet has handed to every consumer.
Consumer always will build or destroy brands. Consumers always were and always will be in control of a brand. I’ve always found it funny that any marketer believes they can control a brand. The conversations now happen online between hundreds, thousands or millions of consumers, rather than over backyard fences between two neighbors or on the sidelines of little league games on Saturday morning.
The rules of good marketing and good business still apply today just as they did yesterday:
- Provide a valued product or service at a fair price for that value and consumers will buy it
- Provide outstanding customer service before, during and after the sale
- Give consumers a reason to tell their friends, family and neighbors about you, your product and your service
- In the long run, no amount of great marketing can save a bad product, service or brand
The internet merely amplifies your success or failure as a marketer. It hasn’t changed the rules.
