The Persian poet Rumi, a deep thinker who lived approximately 1000 years ago, said this:
“When I die I will soar with the angels
When I die as an angel, what I will become you cannot imagine.”
This is how I see marketing today. Traditional marketing is dying – due to technology, the green trend, and most recently, this challenging economy. We are beginning a new era of soaring with the angels of new media. And new media as we now know it is just that – something new, whose time has just begun. Therefore, to paraphrase Rumi, what marketing will become in the next few years is something we cannot imagine. This is exciting to many of us; and scares the hell out of the rest!
Do you remember when it was exciting to get your name, or better yet, your photo in the newspaper? Kids today couldn't care less about this. Where's the excitement in that when they have complete access to a multi-media platform through sites that include YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace? They have grown up with the ability to broadcast their message to the world? A news story in the local paper is about as exciting to them as a worn out textbook, which is another medium that is changing. Children today are going places that you and I cannot imagine. I just hope I can keep up with them because that's where business, and especially marketing is going too, I wouldn't mind coming along.
What then is the best approach to take in business today if you want to be relevant is a revolutionary marketplace? The lessons will very likely come from your children. Have you noticed they have very few attachments? They've grown up in a disposable society. Friends, technology, even experiences all come and go freely. They have learned to gracefully move through the clutter and turbulence that is redefining how we work and live. Now, thanks to a new economy and the green trend, there will very likely be less physical clutter. The challenge may be learning to adapt to renewable marketing mediums that will make the current ones irrelevant. This is especially significant to marketers whose success is dependent upon keeping pace with what is new, better, and different.
The truth is we can imagine what business will be like in the very near future if we take a shot at it. That's what we should be doing more often if we don't want to get stuck in the rut of irrelevancy. This is where traditional media and marketers are finding themselves. You may read in the newspaper that your local editor is "on Twitter too." That's cool – except the problem with that is Twitter is their competition. They just haven't realized it yet! It's how many of us are getting our news today. That should be a wake-up call to all of us. Business is and will continue to change and reinvent itself as we grow with technology and deal with larger global issues. Here's the good news: We all have the same basic capabilities. Your limitations are only those you imagine. If you think social media is playtime and not a serious business tool. You are correct. If you think you can't learn the new technology, you are correct too. If you can imagine soaring with those angels who will be the next generation of new media marketers, then you're going to be just fine. And I'll be right there with you.
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Well said, Jeff. Today’s technology makes it so easy for individuals to reach a large audience. It allows independent marketers to do what was once impossible and showcase their talents to a world who would otherwise know nothing about them. Great post. Looking forward to more ahead.
Bill – It feels great not to have to work through all of the layers that we used to deal with, doesn’t it?
As you know I agree with the whole social media craze which is the impetus behind http://www.certifiedsocialmedia.com that is taking hold quite nicely.
In regards to your title on your blog post, I opine that it depends on how you define traditional marketing.
I contend that traditional marketing is delivering the right message to the right target market with the right vehicle, frequently enough to create a relationship, community or some motivation to take action (sale, inquiry, referral, etc.). Based on that I believe that social media is another vehicle to deliver messages to target markets, frequently, i.e. traditional marketing with another vehicle that happens to be current and technology intensive. Its a tool to deliver a message. You still need the traditional target market defined and the proverbial message of your brand, product, service, personality, et. al.
Will be a good subject to talk about on http://www.certifiedsocialmedia.com. Maybe Ill invite you as a guest on that day of our session.
Happy Marketing, Al Lautenslager
http://www.certifiedsocialmedia.com
@gmarketingguy on twitter
Al – Glad to help. Seems we agree in part and also have our differences, which should make for a lively discussion.
Thanks for the Happy Marketing wishes – I love that! Back at you.
If you found this post interesting, you may enjoy this article from USA Today on March 18th, 2009 that very much patterned the same ideas I shared. http://budurl.com/ghww
Jeff,
All your points are very well taken. However, I think folks that still see a big role for traditional outbound/push marketing are smoking the nostalgia pipe.
For example, a publisher of a local business magazine sent me this angry rant when I published a piece about the death of Marketing 1.0 (outbound) and the new era of Marketing 2.0 (inbound):
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There’s a reason they call Google a search engine… users have an immediate need to find information and Google becomes the handy reference. If that need doesn’t exist for any length of time, the user isn’t compelled to go to that search engine (or for that matter, any other website).
I’m not trying to minimize Google’s value, just keeping it all in perspective. Furthermore, most users don’t want spam (read advertising) to be visible… they find it an intrusion to see a message pop up when not requested. How many iPods do you think Apple would have sold strictly by posting a link/ad on Google ads? Do you think they could have approached the 1mm plus goal? Do you think their heavy TV campaign was a useless expenditure? Why not just use their own website? Do you know something the good folks at Apple don’t? I can tell you my 17 year-old son certainly doesn’t want me to mute the TV when their ads are running.
The point is that the internet is a valuable addition to the “traditional” media mix but certainly not it’s replacement.
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He is trying to say “Apple ads are brilliant, so mass market advertising as it was done in the 1960s and 1970s must still work, see?” Good luck with that, Slick… his advertising-supported paper will slowly sink under the waves with the rest of the folks whose heads are so firmly planted in the sand.
Meanwhile, if you want a SENSIBLE mix of online and offline marketing strategies that actually WORK and LAST, download my Strategic Marketing Process eBook here:
http://www.doitmarketing.com
Thanks, Jeff, for letting me rant!!
– David
CEO, Do It! Marketing