Monday, August 25, 2008

More Marketers Want to Get to Know You

Ad Age: Building one-to-one relationships with consumers historically has been embraced by some sectors -- such as financial services and automotive -- more than others. But the Direct Marketing Association's Quarterly Business Review for the first quarter of 2008 finds that 50% of the marketers surveyed said they will increase their spending on database segmentation, overlays and analysis should there be a recession.

Procter & Gamble, long accustomed to a bombard-the-masses-with-heavily-tested-ads strategy, has been working on better personalizing the consumer experience. CRM is also the force behind Coca-Cola's My Coke Rewards online program. Hewlett-Packard is said to have recently completed the biggest implementation of Oracle's Siebel CRM software in history.

Retailers are embracing CRM, too. JCPenney's new JCP Rewards program lets customers earn points to snag members-only benefits. Rival Macy's West, one of the retailer's biggest divisions, also has been investing in CRM to decipher a more effective media mix and gauge reaction to digital efforts.

Let's choose the recession as the reason for everything
I'd like to think people are a bit more advanced than advertisers give them credit for.
With the current shift in marketing trends, with little and less reaction from consumers, people are expecting more from advertisers.
New developments in technology, allowing stronger and deeper connections amongst people and brand representatives allow us to move forward in newer and better advertising methodologies.

Why do so many advertisers and marketers continue to deny this? It's not like the change is a bad thing and it's actually so much more cost effective. Can't you hear that change jingling in your pocket?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think it's because too many can't look beyond their position. They are constantly evaluating their initiatives from the POV of someone who works for the company, and that clouds their judgment.
They're delusional, unable to consider--honestly consider--what a customer prefers; often, they're afraid of going beyond their comfort zone, even if that kind of approach could spare them from shelling out for expensive broadcast crap that turns the same screw it always has.