|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
Marketing to the 'New'
Consumer By Felicia Hudson April 6, 2007 Technology has changed the marketplace and along with it the consumer. The emergence of new technologies and multi-tasking consumers make it a challenge for marketers to reach their intended audiences. As marketers compete to reach consumers and sell their products, one thing has become clear: Traditional approaches are no longer working. Joseph Jaffe, president and "chief interrupter" of crayon, will teach marketers how to break through the clutter, get the attention of consumers and generate the sale, as he speaks on "A New Kind of Marketing for a New Kind of Consumer" at the CUES Nexus Conference™, April 24-26 in Dallas. Jaffe—who describes his company, crayon, as a new kind of marketing company that is equal parts agency, consultancy, training and education, and empowerment—helps marketers and companies make sense of the change that is occurring right now and figure out what comes next, what to adopt, what to embrace, what to leverage and how to do it by using bold, alternative, non-traditional approaches. "Advertising as we know it—if it does not change, if it does not adapt, if it does not evolve, if it does not become more consumer centric and consumer facing—will eventually become meaningless, and relatively ineffective, to the point where its cost will no longer be justified based on its benefits," Jaffe says. Jaffe explains this is because of the increased competition for consumers' attention. He uses the example that in 1965, when there were only three major television stations—ABC, CBS and NBC—it would only take one commercial on each station to reach 80 percent of the American population. Now it would take over 125. "Think about people that are on their laptops while they are watching television or instant messaging while watching television," Jaffe says. "Even just to get in front of a person is not good enough—it does not guarantee success." He stresses that even if marketers and advertisers succeed in gaining consumers' attention, making an impact is critical. Jaffe, author of the book Life after the 30-Second Spot, uses the metaphor of the three primary colors—red, yellow and blue—for the three traditional approaches to advertising: television, radio and print. He says that because Crayola™ today sells a big box full of 96 different colors, it was the inspiration for his company crayon. He wants marketers to learn to use a color other than just the primary ones. "I'm not saying television, radio or print should go away," Jaffe says. "I'm saying that these are just three crayons in the box of 96 and we have to figure out the art and the science associated with choosing which crayons to paint our picture with, in which combinations, in which quantities and in which order." Among the many different colors Jaffe describes, the non-traditional approaches that credit unions can use include communal marketing, which he defines as marketing to, through and with the community collectively as opposed to marketing to a demographic segment. This can include Wikis, blogs, podcasts, and gaming—virtual worlds such as Second Life—among others. "These approaches themselves are different colors in this ever-increasing spectrum," Jaffe says. He says that credit unions—even those with smaller budgets should not shy away from using these new and interesting approaches. "This is not about money," Jaffe says. "The thing about these (other) 93 colors, as I call them, is that as you move further and further away from saturated television, radio and print—just from a cost-effectiveness standpoint—these approaches become a lot more affordable and I think that's an encouraging message." Contact CUES Intern Felicia Hudson.
|