THE 5th "P": PARTICIPATION

"As consumers spend more and more time controlling, uploading, downloading, filming, recording, and sharing their own personal experiences with products, services, and brands, we marketers must figure out how we can insert ourselves in this creator’s life in a relevant and credible way. Brands have two choices really:

1) They can continue to shout at consumers through traditional media vehicles and hope that’s enough to inspire them to take action; or

2) They can embrace the consumer’s desire to create, control, and share and empower them with simple creation tools that allow them to self-express…over and over and over. Ah yes, self-express. That sure brings back memories."

Excellent article published on BrandChannel.

GRAFFITI OF THE DAY

"I work 3h per day and it's enough to make me happy."

"WHITE TRASH, FAST FOOD"

And now for something completely diferent, here's the recent "How Globalization Is Creating a New European Underclass" published by Der Spiegel.

"In the West, gradual de-industrialization has created a new underclass of the unproductive and intellectually depraved. The spiritual cousin of the American phenomenon of 'white trash', these strangers in their own land have become a serious threat to democracy."

"DISRUPTING THE CONVERSATION"

"To gain advantage in this new era (the era of consumer-generated content) brands should start by asking different questions, such as (...) What would it take for brand owners to 'hand over' the care and feeding of their brands - confidently giving the audience full reign?"

Because all markets are conversations (and this is not just a nice aphorism for client to read) and because today, more than ever those "conversations" are being managed by the consumers ... check out this really interesting article from Laurie Coots TBWA\Worldwide published in HUB Magazine.

AD QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Brands have become part of the fabric of our society.Brands create context about who we are and howwe live. And brands aren’t just articulated by their advertising any more; they’re articulated by everything they do. Every aspect of a brand that touches people defines that brand."

-- Lee Clow, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TBWA Worldwide

RANDOM WALK

Is it the brand that makes the consumer?
Or the consumer that makes the brand?

"THE YOUTH OF TODAY"

"In society today it is harder to be a young person than ever before. Yes there is much more material wealth and the standard of living across the Western world has risen dramatically but there are so many other issues and pressures that never existed a generation ago."

"Identity", "Politics", "Brands", "Family", "Idols", "Dreams" - are some of the issues discussed in this really interesting «youth manifesto» written by Phatgnat.

"LONG LIVE THE CONSUMER"

A glimpse at the landscape: a market saturated with product messages constantly pitching for people's attention and fragmented by all kinds of media.

To this, add the fact that the internet and other communication technologies are giving the consumers the power to get information about whatever and whenever they want.
The result? The consumer has been crowned at last - all over the world, consumers have finally the power to compare, pick and choose as never before.

The big challenge according to the Economist is:
"With consumers becoming increasingly empowered, how can the marketing, advertising and communications firms that companies use to promote their products hope to get their messages across?"

JMD

"How Disruption Brought Order"

Jean-Marie Dru's recent interview to Campaign Magazine (3/24).

BEING UNIQUE, WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE

"Making Differentiation Make a Difference" published by Strategy+Business is one of those interesting articles that stating the obvious will make us think even more.

"It is a widely accepted and rarely challenged tenet of marketing" say the authors, "that companies can sustain competitive advantage only through “new and improved” product differentiation based on unique features and benefits. What a mistake."

"This argument is not intended to advocate that companies take their eye off product innovation. In fast-moving industries, where the value added to products and services may quickly be commoditized, it’s essential for companies focused on category expectations to be keenly aware of the product features that customers want, and to continue to deliver them as they improve their offerings and the expectations for the category. If they do not do these things, companies risk losing market leadership."

THE GLOBAL "VILLAGE" CONSUMER

"What do consumers expect of global brands?"
In a recent Harvard Business Review article professor John A. Quelch identifies the 3 characteristics consumers look for to make purchase decisions:

1) Quality Signal

"Global brands are very dynamic, always upgrading themselves" | "I like [global] brands because they usually offer more quality and better guarantees than other products."

2) Global Myth

"Global brands make you feel part of something bigger and give you a sense of belonging." | "Local brands show what we are; global brands show what we want to be."

3) Social Responsibility

"People recognize that global companies wield extraordinary influence, both positive and negative, on society's well-being (...) consumers vote with their checkbooks if they feel that transnational companies aren't acting as stewards of public health, worker rights, and the environment."