Visitor Centric Marketing

One of the key values in building a powerful brand is that it conveys a message that lifts a marketers offering above the competition to provide sales inertia, acceptance and resulting revenue. Implied in this statement is the point that there are shared values, ones that people can pass along to others. A good example is the prestige that a beautiful luxury car connotes to others. The car is psychologically an extension of the buyers persona, and others who see this person in the car connote certain similar thoughts and feelings to the owner and reinforces their desire to be an owner of a similar car.

So, if one of the great powers associated with a great brand is the ability to communicate particular feelings and thoughts about consumers to future prospects, how can this be accomplished in a world where everyone receives a different message? If the brand attributes, communications, are tailored at an individual level, how can one effectively transfer the message to others?

The answer is that 1 to 1 is more suitable as a tactic within a broader consumer strategy and not a strategy in and of itself. That is, having the ability to communicate 100% customized messages to each and every customer and prospect doesn’t mean that doing so is actually better. Extending the example of the car, above, consider a prospective buyer who first expresses interest in the car by going to a dealership to test drive the car. This person has obviously bought into the brand message. In this situation, should the sales person construct a tailored follow up to the prospect, sending a personal letter or email that details their conversation and then follow up with a personal phone call? Of course!

A message that is attractive to the target audience allows others to be persuaded by the brand message; however, a 100% targeted message would be beneficial in certain instances where a marketer is trying to leverage the self expressions of a prospect who has already identified themselves as an adopter of the brand message.

Even if you disagree with my premise, you have to love this… the original script for the 1975 blockbuster, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Mark

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 1:50 am and is filed under Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.