2009 Marketing Tenets
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned this fantastic collection of 50 truths and insights by Graham Brown at mobileYouth. I've picked out a few of my favorite lines that I think get to the heart of forging meaningful connections.
1. Attention is your biggest cost.
2. IVORY TOWER Let's get it into our heads that youth don't wake up thinking about our brands.
3. Ask yourself, "What is the social currency of my product?"
4. Marketing is no longer something you do to youth, but something you do with them.
7. Awareness means nothing. When was the last time you bought a Cadillac?
11. Patient youth marketing strategies will win out. Focus on building a beachhead of passionate supporters who love your product.
14. DRIVERS Can you help me belong? Can you help me be significant? These are two timeless and culturally-independent requests youth have for your brand.
19. Good youth marketing is focused on share of customer, not share of market.
49. TRENDS Don't waste your efforts on searching for the next great thing. It is the same as the last one: a product that delivered more social currency to youth than all of its rivals.
50. Lifestyle or Product? Red Bull will become the gold standard of youth marketing because it understands its business is "energy" not "energy drinks" just as mobile companies need to consider their business as the social fabric of youth not a mobile product.
These thoughts illustrate what I believe are a few of the central tenets of marketing in 2009:
People's lives don't revolve around your brand, they revolve around life.
People's behavior and decisions are motivated by their relationships, their careers, by love, by passions, by hobbies. Brands can only hope to become a part of it after they begin to respect it.
Pass-along is made of people.
The internet is awesome at making it easier for people to tell other people about the things that are important to them. But, people only choose to share your brand with other people if it has social value, i.e. Will this help me to fit in, or show how I'm unique?
Invest in long term relationships.
The internet is awesome for building relationships, creating fans, and earning advocates. But, every successful blogger will tell you that you can't do it with one great blog post. It takes hundreds of great blog posts, every day, for a year.
Got any to add?
1. Attention is your biggest cost.
2. IVORY TOWER Let's get it into our heads that youth don't wake up thinking about our brands.
3. Ask yourself, "What is the social currency of my product?"
4. Marketing is no longer something you do to youth, but something you do with them.
7. Awareness means nothing. When was the last time you bought a Cadillac?
11. Patient youth marketing strategies will win out. Focus on building a beachhead of passionate supporters who love your product.
14. DRIVERS Can you help me belong? Can you help me be significant? These are two timeless and culturally-independent requests youth have for your brand.
19. Good youth marketing is focused on share of customer, not share of market.
49. TRENDS Don't waste your efforts on searching for the next great thing. It is the same as the last one: a product that delivered more social currency to youth than all of its rivals.
50. Lifestyle or Product? Red Bull will become the gold standard of youth marketing because it understands its business is "energy" not "energy drinks" just as mobile companies need to consider their business as the social fabric of youth not a mobile product.
These thoughts illustrate what I believe are a few of the central tenets of marketing in 2009:
People's lives don't revolve around your brand, they revolve around life.
People's behavior and decisions are motivated by their relationships, their careers, by love, by passions, by hobbies. Brands can only hope to become a part of it after they begin to respect it.
Pass-along is made of people.
The internet is awesome at making it easier for people to tell other people about the things that are important to them. But, people only choose to share your brand with other people if it has social value, i.e. Will this help me to fit in, or show how I'm unique?
Invest in long term relationships.
The internet is awesome for building relationships, creating fans, and earning advocates. But, every successful blogger will tell you that you can't do it with one great blog post. It takes hundreds of great blog posts, every day, for a year.
Got any to add?
2 Comments:
If brands and marketers can realize that life goes on with or without your brand, they will be afar more successful in the new year. People are going to have real live interactions everyday in whatever medium that their lives take them. If your brand is there, not interrupting, but helping it will have a major impact on sales and advocacy.
Good post.
I like your summary Mike and thoughts taking this discussion forward - especially the line "People's lives don't revolve around your brand, they revolve around life."
You better trade mark that before it shows up in one of my presentations :)
Greg's point makes sense - not interrupting is the key.
Good post,
GB
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