Time To Spread The Love (Not Blow Your Wad)

By James Cherkoff from Collaborate Marketing.

With the mind-boggling degree of innovation occurring in digital technology and networked media, it’s very easy to forget that, in commercial terms, we are still only talking about markets. And markets are still just made up of people. The other commercial task that hasn’t changed is the need to deploy resources to work within the marketplace to realise specific aims effectively. Such as building sales and keeping shareholders content. What is changing, as every marketeer worth his Cluetrain now knows, is the nature of that marketplace. However, these changes are still yet to be fully reflected in the marketing industry because the most important cog of the business - media finance - continues to lag the trends driving networked markets.

Big marketing shekels remain driven by two words – reach and frequency. An approach akin to asking as many people as possible out on a date until one or more of them falls for the smooth new chat-up line. And this view of the world is all about size. Bigger. Louder. Harder. The problem is that in the new marketplace this approach doesn’t build relationships - it wrecks them. Of course, awareness is absolutely vital for any brand, particularly a new one. And there’s always going to be a need to get out the big guns out and fire away at the marketplace to remind the world that a brand still means business. But consumers (aka people) are fed up with brands only offering them a one-night stand, time after time.

Just think about the financial services industry where enticing offers are sprayed around, only for the love to be slowly withdrawn once the deal is done. The bank’s rate of interest gets lower and lower until it just fizzles away and the corporate desire for new accounts on the bedpost grows. Which leaves consumers more cynical and determined to stay footloose. Or to become ‘rate tarts’ as they are tellingly known by the industry.

For brands to break this Tiger Woods lifestyle, they have to change not only their ways but also, crucially, their means. And that means a very serious redistribution of their cash. For if a corporate or brand is only in town occasionally for a night out on the campaigning tiles its long-term reputation suffers. These days consumers see reliable brands as being there for them 24×7 - when they need the help and support. And how can a brand do that if it spends its marketing wad on the first night?

It’s not easy changing long-standing behaviour. But unless brands spread their love, attention and cash throughout the year, and are able to hold some back to respond to people’s demands, no one will believe their clever words and lovely promises. In the world of marketing and brands, the size of your wad still counts. But in marketplaces driven by networked media, people are more interested than ever before in how you use it.