End of an Error: Marketing Model Must Shift to Engage an Active and Social Consumer
Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 by Mark McKinney.
Media Logic has published a white paper discussing its view of 2010 for the marketing profession. Of note is an excellent commentary by Ronald Ladouceur, contending that “There is no question that the old model of marketing, dependent upon an isolated and passive consumer, is dead, never to return.” (you can download the white paper [...]
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Understanding and Embracing a Brave New Worldview
Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by The Relationship Era.
This post is the first of what we hope will be an active and thought-provoking body of content from guest contributors. Writer and researcher, David B. Wolfe, is the principal author of Ageless Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New Customer Majority and co-author of Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies [...]
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The Relationship Era Inspires at SXSW
Posted on 23. Mar, 2010 by Dan Patterson.
During our session last week at SXSW on the topic of the Relationship Era, a number of audience members were excited to hear an industry perspective about changing the world of marketing. Mark McKinney and I presented the idea of a new era in marketing that is more focused on brand sustainability than the prevailing [...]
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Of Position and Purpose
Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Mark McKinney.
In the normal course of our work, we see people (occasionally even people on our team) mixing up the ideas Brand Position and Brand Purpose. Brand purpose is the reason a brand exists, and the brand position is how it presents itself to the marketplace (which hopefully reflects its purpose, but it is different). So, [...]
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Toyota Not Getting Typical Mileage from Credibility
Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by The Relationship Era.
How low can you go? Just ask Toyota. While not quite as unpopular with the public as financial services firms and wireless providers, Japan’s largest auto manufacturer has seen its trust with US consumers plummet during the period starting in early fall 2009 to mid-February 2010. imc²′s recent research demonstrates a dramatic drop in Toyota’s [...]
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The World’s Most Repetitious Advertising Campaign…in the World
Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by The Relationship Era.
If you’re unfamiliar with Nationwide Insurance’s “World’s Greatest Spokesperson in the World” campaign, you’re probably also unaware that it’s the year 2010 and that the Winter Olympics are currently taking place in and around Vancouver, B.C. Described by a company press release as “in heavy rotation,” the television commercial is as much a broadcast symbol [...]
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Marketing and Happiness (Part 2)
Posted on 18. Feb, 2010 by Doug Levy.
In Part 1 of this post, I assert that marketing’s promise over the last 50 years—basically, buy it and be happy—is hogwash. The premise that “buying something = happiness” is flawed. It accords the brand more power than it has and ignores the human desire for connection to something meaningful; research shows that connection not [...]
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Getting It Right: How Do You Know?
Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by The Relationship Era.
We’ve been thinking about some different approaches to objectively identify brands that are embracing Relationship Era marketing. If you’re familiar with our position on the future of marketing, you probably know that we can’t make the determination of who’s doing it right solely at the campaign- or tactics-level (see Ian Wolfman’s post Rise of the [...]
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Marketing and Happiness (Part 1)
Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Doug Levy.
Is there a connection between marketing and happiness? In the Consumer Era, the act of buying some (and preferably more) was often portrayed as a transaction that secured not only a product or service, but happiness itself. It was a message that worked really well for a long time —it’s hard to resist the idea [...]
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Marketing, the Figure-Ground Stimulus, and Values
Posted on 21. Jan, 2010 by Mark McKinney.
I recently read an interesting post by Seth Godin, talking about how he feels that marketing messages are analogous to comic book frames. The marketing message is the crafted communication much like the illustrated comic frame, but the “message” takes place between the frames, where the reader actively imagines the action. His point: “Consumers are [...]
