Winning in the Relationship Era™A New Model for Marketing Success By Doug Levy

Winning in the Relationship Era™ A New Model for Marketing Success By Doug Levy Published by Doug Levy at Smashwords Copyright 2010 Doug Levy Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: A New Era in Marketing Chapter 2: The Brand Sustainability Map™ Chapter 3: Breakthrough Success in the Relationship Era Chapter 4: Getting Involved Introduction I can still remember the day I realized marketing had changed forever. It was summer of 2004. I was reading an article about Kryptonite, a manufacturer of bicycle locks. Kryptonite had found itself in uncharted territory after a series of forum posts and an online video revealed how the brand’s tubular bike locks could be opened with a simple BIC pen. At first, the company denied the claim’s validity. But as word (and ire) spread like wildfire across the Internet’s budding social sphere, Kryptonite soon realized it had to change its way of thinking. In a bold move, its leaders adopted a position of transparency and open communication. Not only did Kryptonite replace 400,000 locks, but it also took steps to create a true, open dialogue with customers. It didn’t take long for people to appreciate the brand’s efforts and recognize their shared values. Nor did it take long for Kryptonite to earn back the respect of the community and its position of market leadership. I love the Kryptonite story. It’s one of the first examples of a company shifting conventional thinking to meet this radically changing marketing environment. Some of my friends and colleagues have gone through a similar shift in thinking. Over the years, we’ve helped some of the biggest brands in the world enter and flourish in the digital space. But we have come to realize that digital is only part of the equation. We have the opportunity to do something bigger and more meaningful. We asked ourselves an ambitious question: “Can we partner with our clients to transform the world of marketing?” The question soon became a quest, and this new approach to marketing was born—a fundamentally different way to practice marketing that’s both extraordinarily effective and intensely meaningful. What this book champions is a bold new direction, yes, but it’s also practical—giving marketers the means to spend less and get more. More sales. More profit. More engaged, loyal customers and employees. Even more benefits for society. Winning in the Relationship Era outlines this new approach, giving business leaders a guide for leapfrogging competitors in a dramatically different marketing environment. Is the approach controversial? Yes. Is it a model that the next generation of successful marketers will adopt? I think so. After reading, I invite you to participate in the dialogue at www.relationshipera.com, and if you’re so compelled, to join us in this movement to make marketing more profitable for everyone. This is a time of extraordinary opportunity. Together, we can lead a momentous transformation in one of the biggest and most powerful industries on the planet. Winning in the Relationship Era includes four sections: A New Era in Marketing, our perspective on the evolution of marketing The Brand Sustainability Map™, an introduction to a better tool for assessing relationships Breakthrough Success in the Relationship Era, five keys to victory in the emerging model Getting Involved, an invitation to join us Chapter 1: A New Era in Marketing THE SHIFTS IN CONSUMER MEDIA CONSUMPTION HABITS ARE RESHAPING THE WAYS MARKETERS CAN—AND MUST—BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH CONSUMERS. MOREOVER, THE EXPANSION OF DIGITAL INTO EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES HAS CAUSED FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES IN HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH BRANDS, WHAT THEY EXPECT OF BRANDS, AND THE ROLE OF MARKETING IN THEIR LIVES. Even as brand leaders use new tactics to accomplish their goals, most think of the practice of marketing much as it’s been defined for decades—a way to persuade people to buy something. In short, most marketers are applying new tactics within an old model. Today, a new era in marketing is here, and succeeding in it requires an entirely different marketing model. The Product and Consumer Eras Before introducing this new model, we first provide some context on the evolution of marketing. Until recently, there were two eras of marketing—the Product Era and Consumer Era—and each featured a winning marketing model that distinguished the period. This Product Era ad details Dr. Rhodes’ Dandruff Cure and its benefits. In the Product Era, from the early 1900s through the 1960s, the focus in business was on producing products. During this era, marketing was about simply informing people about these products. Ads were copy heavy, and the strongest performers did the best job of explaining why their product was superior. In the 1960s, marketers realized that product descriptions reached people at a logical level but failed to connect on an emotional level. As a result, the Consumer Era was born. Whereas in the Product Era, the thinking started with the marketer and its products, in the Consumer Era, marketers learned that an understanding of the consumer was paramount. Marketers worked to deeply understand consumers’ wants and needs, to reach them at a moment of utmost receptivity with a message most likely to influence them. Although there has been a lot of change in marketing since the Consumer Era began in the 1960s, the change has largely been within the same model. Yes, there are now better approaches for gathering consumer insights, more techniques and channels for getting messages out to consumers, and a richer set of analytics tools for assessing what is working, but they’re just more sophisticated methods for doing the same thing—persuading people to buy. With such an intense focus on creating messages that elicit a specific action, it’s no surprise that people feel persuaded and manipulated by marketers. In fact, the practice of marketing has become synonymous with spin and deception. In the Consumer Era, marketers appeared as if they were putting consumers first. There was a lot of talk about trust and relationships, but trust in the Consumer Era was one way. Marketers persuaded consumers to trust them only as a way to sell more products. They were using these words differently than people typically use them in their personal lives, where trust is two-way. Successful marketers will discard this shallow approach to trust as they employ a new model of marketing. Changing Within a Model versus Creating a New Model Although businesses constantly evolve, most change happens within a fundamental paradigm for an industry. Truly transformative change, though, results from powerful thinking that brings about an entirely new model. “You cannot solve a problem from the same level of thinking that created the problem.” —Albert Einstein As explored in the previous section, there have been many changes in marketing over the past 100+ years. But how exactly do you know if it’s a new model or simply changes within an old one? To illustrate the difference, we step away from marketing to consider two examples of companies that embraced a different level of thinking to create a new model within their industries. Apple In 2001, there was a robust marketplace of MP3 players, with dozens of reputable and experienced manufacturers actively competing to lead the industry. When Apple declared its intent to enter the market, most scoffed, dismissing Apple’s lack of skill in building high-feature, low-cost devices. Creating a new model in digital music players Old model: Create devices with more functionality and lower prices New model: Offer a simple system for enjoying digital music But Steve Jobs decided to play a different game. He determined that the real need was not cheap, complex devices but rather easy-to-access, legal digital music. So Apple invented a device that had few bells and whistles—and a hefty price tag. Apple also built a music store, where people could easily buy songs for 99 cents and transfer them to their music devices. The iPod and iTunes results are legendary. Within a year after iTunes’ launch in April of 2003, Apple owned 92.1 percent market share for hard-disk digital music players and 70 percent market share of all MP3 downloads. The company had a value 4.5 times greater than in 2001.1 Apple succeeded unlike any of its rivals by making digital music accessible and enjoyable. Southwest Airlines ... - tailieumienphi.vn