TV, Internet, and Marketing

With the growing use and importance of online media, marketers have a great opportunity because they can be a lot closer to their consumers. Marketers can listen to what the consumers have to say through blogs, YouTube, and other Internet resources. It is something that wasn’t available before and marketers had to use market research, but now they can just see how consumers are responding to their brand first hand; they can out a face or at least a user name on stats. It also means, however, that they have less control over their brand. Before, they could focus on advertising on TV as the dominant media, and be sure that their audience would accept the message intended. But now brand managers don’t have that much control over their brands; they cannot control how consumers experience the brand. Marketers don’t own their brand anymore; it’s been hijacked by the consumer, but perhaps it is not so bad to let the consumer hijack the brand.

As a result, marketers are now forced to seek non-traditional media to market the brands. TV is losing importance to Internet. The good news is that non-traditional media costs a lot less; the bad news is that it is marketing has to be a lot more creative to make an impact.

Consumers now want to be engaged and the Internet has made it possible. Consumers identify themselves with the brand and want to get involved; they will have to be allowed to shape the brand and endorse it. There is a tremendous opportunity for companies to build a closer, ongoing relationship with the consumer.

Brand managers will need to let go off control, embrace uncertainty, and accept the fact that the market has the ultimate say; they cannot control how the consumer experiences the brand. After all, marketing is about giving consumers what they want.

Source: Wippenfurth, 2005. Brand Hijack: Marketing without Marketing.