Marketers say they’ve done much to make their efforts more consumer friendly. But have they gone far enough?
Since the late ’90s, we’ve been hearing about the Brave New World of marketing. Consumers, we’re told, are more sophisticated and more adept at ignoring marketing messages. To be successful, marketers need to get out of the clutter business and start giving consumers more power and greater value from the brand experience.
Yet many marketers still operate the way they did 10 years ago. Such Old School adherents are in for some rough times ahead, according to a 2005 Yankelovich study on marketing receptivity, which documents record levels of consumer resistance to marketing. The resistance is particularly keen when the consumer views the message or the method as an invasion of privacy (see chart below).
Why, then, do such tactics continue? “Marketers are certainly trying to figure out ways to better engage consumers in the marketplace,” says Yankelovich president J. Walker Smith. “But it’s all still based on the notion that marketers are in control of the relationship. One of the things we’re trying to emphasize with our research is that consumers don’t want more of the same, they want something fundamentally different.”
The typical response to such resistance is to simply increase ad budgets. But according to Smith, that has the ironic effect of increasing the resistance. “You’re only continuing to increase the noise and the clutter, and that’s just going to make consumers more disengaged.”
The challenge, says Smith, is to rethink the brand interaction and deliver consumers a valuable experience. “The new currency of the marketplace is giving people an experience that’s worth their time,” he says. “I’m not going to open up the envelope if it’s just another pitch, if it’s not something that’s worth the two or three minutes of my time.”
Tactics might include enhancing a direct mail piece with some useful information. “It could be a message or useful nugget of information,” says Smith. “Or a Web site link to go and get something more valuable.”
consumers dislike…
Sale of e-mail without permission… 80%
Sale of mailing lists without permission… 79%
Unsolicited marketing phone calls… 74%
top 10 marketing preferences
Respondents prefer marketing that …
1. Is short and to the point
2. They can choose to see when it is most convenient for them
3. Is personally communicated to them by friends or experts they trust
4. Provides information about price discounts or special deals
5. Is customized to fit their specific needs and interests
6. Compensates them for their time and attention
7. Provides information about competitive brands
8. Has asked for and received their permission ahead of time
9. They can personalize to fit their own interests and needs
10. Is associated with a magazine, TV program or organization about which they are enthusiastic
