As traditional methods transition into a reduced role in the overall marketing mix for many businesses, the winners in marketing's brave new world will be those who get their products and services, messages, and internal systems in sync.
Unfortunately, in the rush to tap into cool new, non-traditional maketing tools like blogs, email, Google AdWords, and YouTube videos, some companies find themselves lost in unfamiliar territory with little or no results to show for their efforts.
Where did they go wrong? They used the tactics of one paradigm (old marketing) and the strategies of another (new marketing) hoping to get the best of both worlds. Instead, what they got was a Meatball Sundae, author Seth Godin's term for haphazardly combining two things that aren't designed to automatically complement each other.
CAUTION: New Marketing Tools Require New Mindsets
When it comes to companies mixing new marketing tools with old-school mindsets, the bigger they come, the harder they fall. Consider these two high-profile examples of "new marketing follies."
Retail goliath Wal-Mart thought they could attract younger customers by combining their "old marketing" strategy of promoting low prices to the masses through traditional advertising (television commercials, print ads) with the "new marketing" ways of social media-consumer generated media. The result was a "meatball sundae" misfire called The Hub, a MySpace wannabe that went nowhere.
Anheuser-Busch shifted $40-million from their television advertising marketing budget to create an online entertainment network called BudTV. Launched in the fall of 2006, BudTV has failed to catch on and is in danger of being yanked from the A-B marketing mix.
Use New Tools Wisely
As Seth Godin points out, the rules are different now. In the world of "new marketing," attention spans are short, stories are more powerful than facts, and the new math dictates that five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don't.
Changing the structure of your business to adapt to this new model while promoting products and services in a way that invites influential customers to spread the word may not be easy. But, in the long run, it's the only way to survive and thrive.
For more ideas to drive sales go to blog.ambitmarketing.com or visit Ambit Advertising and Public Relations.
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