I recently recorded a fairly interesting podcast—really it's a three way conversation between myself, Gary Cohen and Jay Ehret. In it I elaborate a bit on what I call the "marketing spiral":
"Each time we act as evangelists for products, brands or services—then it becomes less about a purchase at the bottom of the funnel and more about perpetuating a constant state of “loops”. “Accidental marketers” have always existed, it’s just that the Web has given us more effective ways to influence our own consumer behavior—which makes things a little more challenging for those “professional marketers”.
The podcast can be listened to and downloaded here.
Assuming we believe the purchase funnel still exists. ;^)
Posted by: Davezilla | Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 07:28 PM
Yet another classic....and another addition to my Armano themed slide deck. ;)
Posted by: jMac | Friday, October 24, 2008 at 07:45 AM
Nice podcast!
Social media applications are giving us a "platform" to support and nurture a much larger network of social connections than previously possible. Just as publishers no longer have a monopoly over the news, the marketer no longer has a monopoly over the published/recorded message about their products.
Conversations that customers and prospects might have had offline now take on a life of their own when published online in real-time (via twitter) but also asynchronously through blogs, tweet streams, product reviews, ratings, Facebook, etc.
Not everyone's opinion matters, but the mavens can exert a greater influence online because their have a greater reach, and their opinion is available 24 x 7 x 365.
How are we using these platforms to increase the signal to noise ratio? We all have a limited attention span and there is a mental cost to all of these conversations, even if they may be micro-interactions.
Posted by: Laura | Friday, October 24, 2008 at 09:32 PM
David, Great Post
We have recently started “Looking Within” to our existing Resident Base to create Customer Evangelists. This in of itself has done more to enhance the existing customer/residents experience, thus they are happier and they are promoting the product.
Just how many influencers would you need to not have to look outward for business?
Posted by: Eric Brown | Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 08:07 AM
Thanks for the informative podcast. Your humanoid figure looks a little pudgy :) I guess that's a sign of the times as well all become a bit more sedentary in our Web 2.0 office cubicle lives.
Posted by: Allan | Sunday, November 09, 2008 at 10:50 PM
From spiral to steps... Here's another way to view the connection between brand and consumer. http://stefanomaggi.blogspot.com/2008/11/brandship-digital-path-of-brand-and.html
Posted by: Stefano Maggi | Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 04:07 PM