The age of communication democracy is upon us. Only someone who’s been in a coma for the past 7 years could be excused for not knowing this fact.
Mobile phones, laptops, notebooks and social networks, online search and VOIP are just some of the tools and platforms that are now part of our everyday lifestyle and providing the means to make 1 + 1 = Thousands.
I am a huge Apple Mac fan but in relation to identifying the new generations culture for experiences, I must give credit to a phrase coined by Microsoft a few years back that sums it all up for me: “Where do you want to go today?”
This question used in Microsoft’s adverts at the time was very insightful and sums up what this generation is all about; it’s creating experiences, potential, possibilities, knowledge, invention, sharing, conversation and so much more than anyone ever expected.
And yet, the people that are still struggling with the reality of this concept are those who have traditionally target mass markets with volume sales driven monologue-advertising campaigns.
As a profession, Marketing in today’s consumer world is far more complex and indeed may eventually need to be redefined into new categories of study and specialisation. One example of this is a course run by Dave Duarte in South Africa for the UCT (University of Cape Town) Graduate School for Business called “Nomadic Marketing”. The course focuses on the integration and use of new ideas and technology in brand communications.
Many of the terms and theories that are part of the traditional Marketing curriculum are obsolete and outdated. In the real world we talk in terms of tribes, prosumers, tryvertising, getvertising, proximity, Bluetooth, stealth, flashmobs, to name but a few of the practices utilised in communication today. In the main, what has made all this possible is mobile, digital and online technologies and most importantly the evolution of a new prosumer mindset. We have finally reached the point where we demand to be treated as individuals not herds and heard not ignored.
What online and mobile communication has done is help realise the concept of six degrees of separation and the small world phenomenon as evidenced by platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and hundreds of other online and mobile social network sites.
As an example of this phenomenon, I recall my wife having coffee with one of her friends and discussing shoes (as most women do, it’s a religion). Each offered opinions on the stores, brands and styles and discussed the options and merits of cost versus style (you get the picture). Anyway, cut a long story short, with in minutes each had their mobile phone out and were ‘pinging’ the friends network that as expected returned the communication with all the fervour of disciples and with yet more valuable insight as only a woman can. The process continued with intermittent buzzing to alert them to another gem of intel and opinion. Over a period of around an hour the back and forth communications had developed into a wealth of information and insight on brand value, perceptions, quality, customer service, styles and availability that would make any research company bid to buy.
This is where I started to do some quick maths and try to work out what the impact of 1 + 1, each with a mobile phone resulted to in reach.
Each had around 5 close friends who were pinged first = 10, if each of the 10 contacts also had 5 friends, that’s another 50 and if those 50 repeated the process that’s another 250, and so on …you get the idea.
It’s easy to see the impact and influence of mobile communication when you look at in these terms. People have always relied on the opinions of others what is different in this case is the reach and speed of the responses that included recommendations and photos!
What this really brought home to me was the fact that brands can no longer rely on traditional marketing strategies to push product perceptions. We have evolved as a prosumer culture that has significant impact on our purchasing decisions and effectively reduces the power of the brand to influence our purchase choices.
There are key learnings and insights that can be taken from many such encounters as they happen on a daily basis. Marketers must explore the rapidly developing mobile and online convergence in relation to communication on a more relevant and personal level that drives real world experiences and purchase decisions.
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