Thoughts by Joel Rubinson, Chief Research Officer of The ARF
VISIT THE ARF | Subscribe via RSS

Traditional marketing theory tells us that the purchase is the successful outcome of consumer-directed messages that create awareness which begets interest, desire, and action.
what happens when that is wrong? What does marketing do when it STARTS “store back” with the purchase? Based on shopper insights research, I believe that, for grocery products, over half of first-time purchases are unplanned;

Digitization is transformational to the media experience, advertising possibilities and media businesses. Now, the media property is the organizing principle and it must live synergistically across platforms. Advertising on traditional media no longer has to be static and served to a whole audience.

Marketers must use new approaches and adopt a new corporate culture to become fast-learning organizations, or they will find their opportunities in the new normal defined by a future that is not of their own making.

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.

MORE »