I wanted to add a comment to the feature “Does your marketing serve” (March, p28). Empowerment is the key word we’re searching for. For so long the industry has convinced itself that it knows what a consumer wants, even telling them their desires through the veil of market research. But, in truth, there has been a lack of consumer empowerment – up until now. “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play” we were convincingly once told. “We beg to differ,” consumers now gleefully respond.
Finally equipped with the tools to mobilise themselves quickly and efficiently, consumers have found a collective voice. And while the smarter brands are now listening to that feedback, the truly smart brands have quickly learnt how to use feedback to build both strong relationships and armies of brand advocates.
To fully engage an audience you need to understand and reward that audience, and social media is providing a rich, vast torrent of data that is empowering us as marketers to do this.
Yes, today’s consumers are threatening to rear up as ugly crisis‑management‑inducing monsters for those who have neglected them for too long. But marketers need to realise that we are also being empowered through these new channels, providing an opportunity for long-term and reciprocally valuable dialogue.
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