The Power Shift In Marketing

Have you ever considered the impact that marketing has on you? Reflect on the following questions:

• How attentive are you to the ads while playing mobile games?
• While shopping or bidding on Amazon or eBay, have you noticed how the ads that appear on screen seem to analyze your shopping behaviors?
• During commercials between your favorite sports matches on TV, do you choose to watch the ads or use the break to do something else?
• Have you installed an ad blocker on your browser?

During each of these activities, consumers are presented with an opportunity to respond. With each opportunity, consumers wield the power to choose: to watch or walk away, to push pause or fast forward, to block, to mute, to click, and ultimately, to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Dominance: From Marketers to Consumers

The world of marketing was not so complex a few decades ago. Home entertainment was limited in scope to television and radio. Fewer channels were offered on TV and there was little competition for the attention of consumers since no smart phones, gadgets, or streaming services existed.

Consumers were hooked to their TVs both for the entertainment and the marketing they offered. As the number of TV channels began to increase, however, the control of consumers increased accordingly. Consumers started switching between channels to avoid ads they did not like.

With the genesis and development of the internet, countless websites and social media networks began to vie for the attention of the consumer. With these increases in entertainment and information platforms, individuals could be more discerning and flexible with how they would consume their content, exercising greater levels of authority over their viewing habits.

Now, advertising agencies have to anticipate how viewers are switching from paid, owned and earned media platforms. Those who have chosen to continue with conventional marketing are now being left behind and serve as an example to the current marketers.

The more savvy marketing firms adapted to this change in entertainment mediums. They accepted that they were no longer in sole possession of power and accepted the consumers’ right and proclivity to choose. They realized the need to reevaluate their marketing strategies and adapted to the cultural shift toward digital and social media marketing.

Before the shift in power, consumers had little choice but to listen to the advertisements no matter how they were presented or how relevant they were. Marketers bore little burden besides the cost of production and air-time.

Now, marketing teams must develop strategies to not only have their brand present where consumers spend their time, but also to appeal to their target audiences in such a way that the consumer chooses to listen to their message voluntarily. Thanks to the burgeoning fields of computer science and information technology, marketers are better equipped to study consumer data in order to more effectively connect with and provide products for their constituents.

Contact us to learn more about digital marketing and how it can be used to improve your business.