The New ABCs of Marketing
The ABCs of Marketing is a classic concept taught in classrooms around the world – it’s what I was taught in business school.
Traditionally, the ABCs were Advertising, Branding and Communication. But at Mu Sigma’s recent Customer Summit, keynote speaker Andreas Weigend spoke about “The New ABCs of Marketing.” Weigend, formerly chief scientist at Amazon.com and currently a professor and researcher at Stanford, theorizes that social media has shifted the entire marketing landscape, and created a new model that is more dialogue than lecture.
According to Weigend, the New ABCs of Marketing are:
- Attention
- Belonging
- (Two-Way) Communication
Attention is about grabbing the customer’s attention – no easy feat in a world where disruption is the norm and attention spans are growing shorter.
Belonging is about making customers feel that they are part of something – a community, a movement, or some other positive force.
(Two-Way) Communication is about recognizing that consumers have a voice too, and will no longer just passively listen while marketers spout out their scripted messaging.
This struck me as an important concept. Viewed through this prism, marketing strategy might be completely different. Companies that persist with the traditional “lecturing” model will be at a distinct disadvantage. And having the right data, and the right analysis of that data, will be much more important than ever before.
Marketers, what are your thoughts on the new ABCs?