63 Tweets for Marketing in the Fluid Fog

What do we do when everything is interactive and people are the media?

The view from a CMO's office must look quite hazy given the impact technology has had on the distribution and consumption of messages:  billboards now interact with cars as they drive past, we use a bar code reader to check reviews and prices while standing in front of a shelf, we seek out and trust the recommendations of people we don't know.   It seems that the traditional hope of a natural order to stimulus, consideration, purchase is actually quite messy. 

"Marketing in the Fluid Fog" is an attempt to understand the new reality and rethink basic marketing tenets.  Rather than create an essay on the topic I tried to identify a number of specific points that deserve discussion and consideration.  So, here are a series of statements - some broad, some specific -  each with a link to something I found interesting and on point – you'll find slideshares, research, blog posts, books, etc. 

Hope you enjoy the story....

1.    Consumers want to make the simple easy, not to make the complex possible.   TT

2.    The goals are simple; consumers ask for Convenience, Control & Connectivity. TT

3.    Everything is interactive; anything can activate a connection. TT

4.    While technology is reaching saturation, what we can do with it is still in its infancy. TT

5.    When the shifting sands of technology and consumer preferences collide any marketing plan is at risk. TT

6.    Media fragmentation accelerates the onset of planning paralysis; we stick with what we know. TT

7.    Content consumption habits are defined by device and place implying different intent. TT

8.    “Constant partial attention” requires us to be simultaneously consistent across channels. TT

9.    Channel implies boundaries yet digital content can morph and jump the banks. TT

10. Developing channel specific strategies raises the risk of failure; channels support a strategy. TT

11. Multi-channel vs. cross-channel misses the point – there will be no channels. TT

12. The smartphone accelerated the onset of channel blur; we need to think beyond integrated. TT

13. The location of the screen is becoming a good proxy for the location of the individual. TT

14. Publishing and facilitating a decision require different form factors and delivery strategies. TT

15. The funnel assumes logical progression thru a number of stages; reality isn’t linear at all. TT

16. The first step on the consumer journey can be from any message from any source. TT

17. Infinite paths to purchase exist with today's media and they are actually unknowable. TT

18. The time it takes for a person to decide is based on need state: latent, chronic or acute. TT

19. In the age of quantum marketing we think in terms of probability rather than cause and effect. TT

20. The closer to the decision point, more brands are in the consideration set – not less. TT

21. Too many product options freezes the brain; recommendations reduce the effects of hyper-choice. TT

22. The rank a brand has in a consumer’s mind predicts her share of wallet. TT

23. People make 3 brand decisions. Try, Repeat, and Make it a Habit.  Each deserves its own strategy. TT

24. There are no longer two moments of truth – shelf and experience - but any number of them. TT

25. People are the media so the message is theirs not ours. We are not sure what is said if anything. TT

26. CRM was right message, right person, right time. Social CRM is some message to someone at some time. TT

27. The next big thing will come from social technology not social media. That is constrained by revenue. TT

28. Content influences choice in different ways, but we’re not quite sure how nor are the academics. TT

29. Relevance is not relevant, interesting is, that is how the brain works. We share the unexpected. TT

30. We erected our own ozone layer or spam blocker to filter out unwanted messages. TT

31. To increase the odds of getting through we need to surround the consumer with interesting content. TT

32. People share content; just not on a brand site. Only 4% of social links are to corp sites. TT

33. Four types of content influence decisions: Emotional, Promotional, Informational and Communal TT

34. Emotional Content focuses on using the brand’s essence to satisfy needs or aspirations. TT

35. Promotional Content provides incentives, financial or other, to encourage action. TT

36. Informational Content lets us compare and contrast features to give a rational defense to a choice. TT

37. Communal Content helps deal with hyper-choice by relying on the opinions of others. TT

38. We need a framework that leverages content analytics to helps us plan better. TT

39. Content Marketing turns brands into publishers; a new and potentially dangerous role. TT

40.  And the content idea can go totally wrong - ask Ragu, Motin and Skittles.  TT

41. Media plans need to cover aircover to personal options, even if different agencies involved. TT

42. Radio was the first streaming content from the cloud – just needed to overcome technical issues. TT

43. Email is the new TV advert it takes tonnage to work and is easy to filter out. TT

44. TV is a large display device for new forms of interaction as well as defining a type of content. TT

45. Social commerce and social TV present new ways to think about the relationship with consumers. TT

46. We make 500 billion product impressions a year affecting a large portion of the economy. TT

47.  Recommendations from friends are like great advertising: Brutal Simple Truth TT

48. Social Internet minutes are way up; site minutes (and traffic) declining. TT

49. Liking a brand is not the same as having ‘Liked’ a brand. TT

50. There is no silver bullet for monetizing indirect, consumer-to-consumer activities. TT

51. If you insist on traffic then use a ‘share button’. Tweet if you have constant content FB if not. TT

52. The browser celebrated its 20^th birthday this year; no wonder apps are the new kid on the block. TT

53. Mobile bar codes need standards and a use case better than coupons and serving up a site. TT

54. A customer sharing her email is a sign of connection and has financial impact. TT

55. Print outperforms email in terms of response rate and both are better still. TT

56. Without mass media viral would not be viral. TT

57. Word of mouth is mostly an urban myth – downline sharing is both rare and minimal. TT

58. Links shared on line have the half-life of a mayfly; they get half of their clicks in < 4 hours. TT

59. Just because you have data doesn’t mean you can measure.   TT

60. Digital measurement will look like media measurement – Gross Rating Points. TT

61. Goal of media research in 1948 was “who says what to whom in what channel with what effect”. TT

62.  Marketing and customer interaction mgt are not functional roles; they are business processes. TT

63. A new goal for marketing. Orchestrate content to help people choose. TT

I'm sure a number of points and good sources were missed - share them if you have one.