Will Smart Consumers Kill

By Carla Sarett and Robin Broitman

In 2006, we worried in advance about the state of advertising.  That was the year that AOL killed its pop-up advertising, banning those cartoon-like intrusions to the dustbin of failed marketing endeavors. In the same year, a study of advertising executives predicted that the inevitable growth of digital video recorders (e.g. TIVO) and ad-skipping technologies will threaten traditional TV advertising - the original "pop-ups." 

We worried then that savvy marketers would suspect that audiences might ignore TV ads more than they already do.  But funny thing is, they haven't figured out why.
 
When we think back over some of the recent purchases we've made (furniture, cars, vacations, etc.), surprisingly, it took lots of work and research to find what we needed.  It's not that companies didn't market to us.  They did… blitzing us with online pop-ups and TV ads - but most of these messages, remarkably, lacked any facts that could assist us in buying things we were in fact eager to buy.  So we ignored them.  This demonstrates the real problem -- a scarcity of information that helps us make purchases we want to make.

In today's affluent society, we're constantly seeking ways (and products) to improve our lives.  Today's marketplace offers us an ever-growing number of choices to do this with an explosion of brands: we have 239 car models, 3000 beers, 340 breakfast cereals, 50 bottled water varieties and, let's not forget, 400+ cable TV channels. 

Given such dazzling variety, brands must compete vigorously for our attention. But once we discover that perfect amber microbrew, we'll be buying it (and introducing friends to it) for a long time.   In the midst of this, spending time fretting about new technologies like PVRs seems a waste of time.  And dreaming up solutions like "advertainment", more intrusive advertising (like TV pop-ups) or "product placement,"  (the "Where's Waldo" approach where products appear insidiously in TV programs) seems misguided.

Misguided, because there's a deeper irony here.  While advertisers fret about problems like zapping (and its companion problem- clutter) -- millions of us are actually "breaking through" to companies, flocking to the Internet for product information.  From digital photography to wine, thousands of websites (a la E-Bay) promote learning about products, rapidly exchange ideas and form communities of kindred buyers, many of whom are loyal enthusiasts for products and companies who've served them.

It's time for marketers to "smarten up" and catch up to these new "smart customers."  Spoiled by the Web, we're impatient and expect "information-on-demand"  -- every time we deal with a company.   Far from being hard to reach, we're actively seeking out information about brands - online, in-store, and on the phone - all with the aim of finding products that "work" for us.
 
This means the marketing equation is now tilted towards information not image.

Sure, image will always be part of what brands are about.  We admit products can and do make us feel sexy and happy -- but we don't have to be geniuses to realize that no wireless phone brand is really better than any other at making us great moms.   So, yes, brands count - but they're not built on image alone.

What a company knows -- about its products, customers' lifestyles and product categories -- counts just as much as image and should energize every point-of-contact with customers.  It's this knowledge that creates real brand equity in a world of "smart customers."   Companies now have the opportunity to spread this knowledge by becoming agents of customer learning.

Some will argue that this approach hardly makes sense for basic products: how much do consumers need to know about Doritos? But in today's information-intensive world, even buying breakfast cereal requires facts and figures.  There are over 300 breakfast cereals, but how many are sugar-free?  

The good news is that adopting a customer learning strategy -- focused on those who are actually interested - is far cheaper than image-based "brand-building" campaigns.   Companies can utilize vehicles close-at-hand - this includes websites, employees, and in-store programs and exploit non-traditional distribution channels  -- Intranets, Extranets, kiosks, to name a few-- to share knowledge, guided by how and where real customers "live."
 
Once a company focuses on learning, its online, retailing and advertising strategies will have to be transformed into agents of customer learning.  Companies will have to discard online experiences overloaded with "cool" games, sweepstakes or viral techniques in favor of sophisticated product information and tools to explore related topics. To supply this content, companies will need to seek out "information partners": non-profits, other companies selling related products and even media companies that can provide trustworthy content -- online, on packaging and in-stores.   And retailers will have to re-focus on serving customers in the store with trained employees and teaching technologies. 

The learning model ultimately comes back to customers and their increased power in the marketing equation. Today's advertising models often rely on top-down passive brand building:  audiences are virtually forced into paying attention to what a company has to say, regardless of whether they care. But forcing health-conscious consumers to watch McDonald's ads is more likely to promote anti-fast food campaigns than it is likely to sell burgers and fries.

Tomorrow's marketing will increasingly exploit customer-to-customer learning.  Customers are constantly inventing new ways to use products and discovering new features about products and services.  Naturally, companies do not have to pay customers to do this, but they can expedite this process by promoting learning around their products. Unlike viral marketing schemes imposed by marketing executives and divorced from practical experience, this type of marketing emerges from real-world customer discovery and communications.

With a learning strategy, in fact, it's the customer who builds the company brand by sharing knowledge and enthusiasm.    By stimulating learning and discovery, companies not only make us loyal customers ourselves but they encourage us to spread the word to others.   And in doing this, we (the customers) become their smartest advertising.

Author Biographies: Robin Broitman is the President of Interactive Insights Group, Inc. in Reston, VA and Carla Sarett, Ph.D. is the President of the Internet Research Group, LLC in Wayne, PA.  Together they provide a range of strategic consulting services.  They can be reached at robin@interactiveinsightsgroup.com and cjsarett@internet-researchgroup.com.