Good marketing isn’t marketing at all—at least as marketing is commonly understood. Several months ago I interviewed a college student who said he hated email marketing. Noticing his Mac, I asked, “what about emails from Apple?” His response, “I love them! BUT that’s not marketing.”
According to Teresa Becker, “we had several women mention that they learned about Skype and other technology from Oprah. If Oprah knows about it, then women will too!” But again, Oprah is not ‘marketing’ anything! She is merely sharing information with people who trust her. She provides a highly valued service.
Caitilin Landrigan wrote an excellent summary of what the catapult team heard from consumers during two days of interviews on the street. In her own words:
“There is some marketing wisdom I think we can glean from the perspectives of these consumers, other people like ourselves, who are seeking the products they need in a world of overabundant information being thrown at them from every corner. To the career marketer, these observations may be common knowledge. Our interviewees made it clear that people are very protective of their personal information. Individuals do not want to receive email or text messages from unknown sources; such messages make them feel insecure. Accordingly, consumers want to be the initiators in marketing relationships. The individuals we interviewed who actually cashed-in on discounts they received were frequent shoppers who already demonstrated preferences for specific products. They knew the companies they purchased from and wanted to maintain communication with them. Thus, their consumer relationship was one built on trust and good reputation. Third, consumers don’t want to be inundated with information. They want ‘to-the-point,’ relevant communication that isn’t annoyingly frequent. Essentially, it appears to me that consumers desire the one-to-one relationship ExactTarget seeks to establish. They appreciate the helpful recommendations and discounts companies like Amazon and Home Depot offer, because they know just who they are buying from, how their information and preferences are being used, and that professional (and ethical) boundaries exist to protect them.”
I’d say those are some pretty sharp insights, what do you think?
This post is the last part of a series on Consumer Perceptions of Marketing.
Previous post in series: Annoying Consumers with Too Many Emails
According to Teresa Becker, “we had several women mention that they learned about Skype and other technology from Oprah. If Oprah knows about it, then women will too!” But again, Oprah is not ‘marketing’ anything! She is merely sharing information with people who trust her. She provides a highly valued service.Caitilin Landrigan wrote an excellent summary of what the catapult team heard from consumers during two days of interviews on the street. In her own words:
“There is some marketing wisdom I think we can glean from the perspectives of these consumers, other people like ourselves, who are seeking the products they need in a world of overabundant information being thrown at them from every corner. To the career marketer, these observations may be common knowledge. Our interviewees made it clear that people are very protective of their personal information. Individuals do not want to receive email or text messages from unknown sources; such messages make them feel insecure. Accordingly, consumers want to be the initiators in marketing relationships. The individuals we interviewed who actually cashed-in on discounts they received were frequent shoppers who already demonstrated preferences for specific products. They knew the companies they purchased from and wanted to maintain communication with them. Thus, their consumer relationship was one built on trust and good reputation. Third, consumers don’t want to be inundated with information. They want ‘to-the-point,’ relevant communication that isn’t annoyingly frequent. Essentially, it appears to me that consumers desire the one-to-one relationship ExactTarget seeks to establish. They appreciate the helpful recommendations and discounts companies like Amazon and Home Depot offer, because they know just who they are buying from, how their information and preferences are being used, and that professional (and ethical) boundaries exist to protect them.”
I’d say those are some pretty sharp insights, what do you think?
This post is the last part of a series on Consumer Perceptions of Marketing.
Previous post in series: Annoying Consumers with Too Many Emails
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