May 1 - The day when hard-working labourers are recognized and given a break. Do we know why May 1 was selected as the International Workers day?
It apparently began with some violence.
According to Wikipedia, The police reacted by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators. "Reliable witnesses testified that all the pistol flashes came from the center of the street, where the police were standing, and none from the crowd. Moreover, initial newspaper reports made no mention of firing by civilians. A telegraph pole at the scene was filled with bullet holes, all coming from the direction of the police."
Wow, that is some description on how International Worker's day started..
On a different note, I recently heard that a close friend separated from his wife of 4 years - the reason given, they had always been working out of different parts of the country and this took a toll. Sad as it may seem, this is reality..
Long distance marriages have seldom worked and in the cases they did, well, my salutations to the couple!
Wait though, what has this to do anything with our main theme, Marketing?? There is a lot in common!
Marketing or Marriages - The closer the distance, the easier it is to succeed.
Remember the good old days when TVCs used to be only source of reaching consumers? So we had Radio ads, TVCs and Print ads and beyond that, there was nothing. Good and Bad.
As a consumer, if I wanted to buy an expensive product, I was probably influenced by the best ads I saw on TV or the best Print ad that a company had come up with in my local newspaper.
Job done. Case closed. Product purchased. And they lived happily...
Let us look at the Advertising/Marketing scenario now. Whether it be the recent Samsung S4 or whether Unilever launches a new soap variant, Brands have to cover all possible medium - TV, Print, YouTube videos, Facebook Promos, Celebrity launches, set up 1800 support, Telemarketing, OOB, whew...
Good News for Brands? Maybe.
Good News for Consumers? Maybe Not.
What does this mean for the consumer?
While the physical distance has reduced and shrunk, the psychological distance has increased.
Let us try representing this pictorially (albeit a bad picture):
Selection / Buying Thought process Then:
Selection / Buying Thought process Now:
So, we clearly have a challenge here, ain't we? How do we get closer to consumers?
Our customer value Maximization approach may help here. I will attempt to answer this in my next post. Till then, Let me sign off with a Bryan Adams number on Long-distance:
Oceans apart, day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice, on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never
how can we say forever
(chorus)
Wherever you go, whatever you do
I will be right here, waiting for you
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you......
(Alas, how we wish we could say this for brands!)
It apparently began with some violence.
According to Wikipedia, The police reacted by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators. "Reliable witnesses testified that all the pistol flashes came from the center of the street, where the police were standing, and none from the crowd. Moreover, initial newspaper reports made no mention of firing by civilians. A telegraph pole at the scene was filled with bullet holes, all coming from the direction of the police."
Wow, that is some description on how International Worker's day started..
On a different note, I recently heard that a close friend separated from his wife of 4 years - the reason given, they had always been working out of different parts of the country and this took a toll. Sad as it may seem, this is reality..
Long distance marriages have seldom worked and in the cases they did, well, my salutations to the couple!
Wait though, what has this to do anything with our main theme, Marketing?? There is a lot in common!
Marketing or Marriages - The closer the distance, the easier it is to succeed.
Remember the good old days when TVCs used to be only source of reaching consumers? So we had Radio ads, TVCs and Print ads and beyond that, there was nothing. Good and Bad.
As a consumer, if I wanted to buy an expensive product, I was probably influenced by the best ads I saw on TV or the best Print ad that a company had come up with in my local newspaper.
Job done. Case closed. Product purchased. And they lived happily...
Let us look at the Advertising/Marketing scenario now. Whether it be the recent Samsung S4 or whether Unilever launches a new soap variant, Brands have to cover all possible medium - TV, Print, YouTube videos, Facebook Promos, Celebrity launches, set up 1800 support, Telemarketing, OOB, whew...
Good News for Brands? Maybe.
Good News for Consumers? Maybe Not.
What does this mean for the consumer?
While the physical distance has reduced and shrunk, the psychological distance has increased.
Let us try representing this pictorially (albeit a bad picture):
Selection / Buying Thought process Then:
Our customer value Maximization approach may help here. I will attempt to answer this in my next post. Till then, Let me sign off with a Bryan Adams number on Long-distance:
Oceans apart, day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice, on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never
how can we say forever
(chorus)
Wherever you go, whatever you do
I will be right here, waiting for you
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you......
(Alas, how we wish we could say this for brands!)
