Altyrian View

Broadcasted on June 9, 2006

Today, John Mims interviews Tom Gaillard, President of Concentric Direct Marketing. Gaillard discuses the market’s shift toward consumer centric marketing: its strategies and practices.

• The common approach before consumer centric marketing was product marketing where companies were pushing products at consumers, with little input. Now, with consumer centric strategies, companies experience an opposite effect with consumers pulling at products. Successful companies are able to determine, understand, and deliver what the consumer wants.

• Technology is causing the shift toward consumer centric marketing. With large data warehouses, the internet and collection tools, collecting and capturing data has become significantly easier and practical.

• As a result of consumer centric marketing, companies use more real-time and relevant communication with their customers. Consumers naturally create a media barrier, jaded from spam and other irksome advertising attempts, so it is necessary to deliver the right message, at the right time, and the right way.

• Cross selling opportunities are becoming more widespread. Companies target previous customers by analyzing their demographics. For example, if a customer opens a checking account, the next day the bank will send a thank you package with specific promotions and offers which would best apply to the interests of the consumer.

• Specific targeting saves money in the long run by not sending out unnecessary information. Companies now target customers specifically by sending out details and information the customer would be interested in.

Listen to the full broadcast on our iTunes Podcast Marketing Watch.
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