i Shopper Marketing | Joel Rubinson on Marketing Research
Thoughts by Joel Rubinson, Chief Research Officer of The ARF
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Brand building in a two way world will separate marketers into two groups; those who feel a sense of gain from conversation with consumers and those who feel a sense of loss because they are no longer in control. The first group is the future of marketing.

Six big wakeup calls in 2009 are doing the marketing research profession a favor; refocusing us on what it will take to conduct trustworthy research, find unexpected feedback, provide anticipatory insights, measure media in a way that people now choose to experience it, and properly rebalance our understanding of how people choose brands by placing more emphasis on understanding the shopper.

Over the next few years three of the hottest marketing trends, digital marketing, shopper marketing, and mobile life will all converge to put shopper marketing into the hands of the shopper. Literally.

Digital marketing and shopper marketing will increasingly merge together. Mobile devices will allow people to bring information, offers, and friends (virtually) into the store with them. The internet is no longer only on your desktop, it is everywhere including right in the store.

In a world of the long-tail of choices that are sometimes not very functionally different, use curiosity as a way of getting people to think about your brand. Being interesting might be a new way of being better.

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