“Lately it seems as if Seth Godin is starting to writing good stuff again.If you only show up when you want something, we’ll catch on.
If you only learn the minimum amount necessary to get over the next hurdle, you’ll fall behind.
If these short term choices leave you focused on the urgent, you’ll almost never get around to doing the important.
”
The gravity metaphor
I don’t usually blog about other people’s blogs, but this one is too good to pass up. In “Gravity is just a theory”, Seth Godin does a very neat job of packaging the ideas that marketing is so much easier when you market something that doesn’t clash with people’s pre-existing convictions and that can convince people by showing, not by telling.
“When in doubt, market gravity.” Classic Godin.
Seth Godin is half-right, but his new book sounds awesome ;)
So Seth Godin made a new post on the evolution of marketing from local/personal, to mass, back to local/personal again. The theory is that brands now aren’t built thru mass marketing, but thru viral marketing and people spreading your stories (because they’re “worth spreading”) and then you leverage permission based marketing to (CRM in new clothes?) to cultivate that base. Classical, spam/mass marketing is no longer needed in this world.
From consumer’s standpoint (and since everyone considers themselves rational people on which advertising has no effect hahaha…) it all makes sense. However, I think the key word here is “build”, as in creating a new brand. An exisiting brand with existing mass reach, and there are quite a few of those entities, will still have a very hard time giving up their mass marketing, and it’s ability to predictable demand creation. Look at Apple, who has one of the world’s most loyal “tribes”, an amazing ability to create stories people want to spread and products people want to show the world they own. But still, it’s pretty obvious that mass marketing is an important component in them sustaining sales, and growth. Right?
But sure, the trend towards and increased influence for the viral and CRM-component in marketing plans are obvious. But I’m not entirely convinced that it’s a replacement, but more of a complement to the marketing mix, applicable in some cases and not so much in others.
And besides, if mass advertising fails, what will happen to all the Web 2.0 startups? Good luck running AdSense on your shiny spreadsheet app ;)
I guess I’ll have to buy the book and make Seth prove me wrong!
