Marketers adapt to communication changes slower than consumers

Cross media experts at On-Demand seminar accuse marketing professionals of being too timid to change and of lagging behind society in adopting new technology.

US speciality agency principals, Laura Terry CEO and MJ Anderson, CMO, (pictured right with On-Demand owner, Bruce Peddlesden) told a marketing seminar in Melbourne that because the average CMO remains in position for an average of 18 months, they are unwilling to attempt using new marketing technology. Most senior marketers lack the technical appreciation of the new communication technologies that are driving social media in society.

The US presenters from Illinois-based Trekk Cross-Media laid out the requirements for successful one-to-one marketing. In this internet age, it is imperative for marketers to communicate with consumers in a direct and social way. ‘Marketers need to replicate how people interact with one another,” said Anderson.

This was emphasized by Terry who said the brand is no longer the defining paradigm, with word-of-mouth and consumer referrals on social media becoming the key influencers. ““People want relationships with people, not with brands,” she said.

Addressing an audience of agency professionals in Port Melbourne, the US pair shared their experience in developing integrated one-on-one campaigns. The use of Facebook, PURLs and personalised follow-up mailings are just three of the major planks in contemporary marketing.

They redefined social media as direct influencing predicting the end of the corporate website as companies move to simple portals that link out to the many different ways people are communicating. The encouragement of user-generated content will replace corporate messages, with the management of the technology residing in enterprises such as On-Demand.

Bruce Peddlesden, managing director, On-Demand, invited the new media professionals to address the marketing community in Melbourne to help elevate understanding of the new technologies. Roy Eitan from Hewlett-Packard and Simon Wheeler, managing director of Océ Australia, also addressed the seminar.

“Marketers need to know how the world has changed. If they keep on doing what they have always done they’ll find themselves obsolete,” said Peddlesden.

The final word goes to MJ Anderson, who reminded the audience that although they may consider email to be a relatively new form of communication, the majority of the new generation of consumers, Gen Z, don’t possess an email address. “It is vital that marketers master the new technology, it is changing as fast as when the web arrived in 1994.”