DUKKY

by Scott Couvillon | May 22, 2009

The pundits, journalists, conference speakers and CMOs agree, the consumer has wrenched power away in the marketing relationship. Enabled by technology, freewill and the ability to validate information on their own, consumers have taken control of marketing.

But back here on earth, a sensible question is being asked — Why in the world would consumers want to control marketing?

What consumers are doing is taking control of their attention and going to alternative sources for information.  Namely, each other.  So anything that reeks of a traditional message, reeks of a traditional message.  Not wrong, just ignorable, typically irrelevant and expected.  No longer the lemmings defined in media terms who march to the grocery, eyes half closed and arms extended to buy the brand of soap that had the most GRPs that day, consumers have become like the CIA analysts listening to your phone calls. Their filters look for relevance.  So the job of marketers is harder.  Now what?

Technology has been improving our productivity for decades, but especially in the last few years it has become ridiculous what we are able to accomplish between accomplishing things.  While I appreciate the accurate correlation between work productivity and monitor size,  I am more referring to what technology has enabled.  We can e-mail from an airplane, buy software upgrades in a grocery store checkout aisle, blog while at a wedding, tweet while tweeting.  But the same thinking that was the basis of the technology that has fueled this productivity can help marketers.  WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?!?!?  Really?  Then give them that.

So if your marketing is incapable of asking, then be content with awareness, whatever that is.  But if you are looking for channels with technology that asks and answers, then come on in.  The water is warm.