Where is marketing heading - Part 2

Notice that it doesn't mention advertising, or selling explicitly. In simple terms we are talking about supply and demand. The supply has to be at the right price and quality otherwise the customers will not make the purchase - they will buy from a competitor who more accurately meets their needs.

Having listened to many organizations in the Middle East - I think the true context of marketing is often lost in the need to sell products and services. Selling is the result in what has gone before - we do the right things in the right way and we will achieve the appropriate levels of sales.

However as marketers or product managers - we also want to build brands. Successful brands build a relationship with consumers through attributes, benefits, activities and initiatives- the more successful the brand, the more intimate the relationship - for example Harley Davidson fans will even tattoo the brand on their bodies.

In deciding which channels or contacts to employ, brand managers, marketers and advertising agencies base their decisions on either what feels right, what has worked in the past, or the potential reach, frequency and GRP's. They also weigh up competitor brands advertising strategies.

The problem with this approach to channel or contact measurement is that it focuses more on efficiencies of marketing spend rather than its effectiveness. Effectiveness has to be the key to actually changing or influencing customer behaviour.

Another key issue is how do you really evaluate the different contacts/channels that are often utilized: outdoor, press, TV, radio, instore/point of sale and sampling? You might know how many samples have been taken during a promotional period, but how effective has the programme been in influencing or changing consumer behaviour? Traditional Direct Marketing is much easier to track in terms of its efficiency and effectiveness. We can track how many enquiries and purchases directly related to the DM campaign and at what cost. The same can apply to eMarketing, which is why it is an attractive medium. But overall, DM is an under utilized channel in the Middle East for a variety of reasons (we will explore this in a future article) so most of the marketing money is spent on traditional channels, which I hope most of you agree are getting very cluttered. The more, the noise or clutter, the harder it is to get your brand message through.

There has to be a real shift thinking to measure the brand experience from the consumers' perspective. We need to find a way to measure and compare the ability of the brand contacts to influence consumer behaviour. We need to understand the contexts for consumers to experience brand encounters - these factors combine to create the overall brand experience. Positive brand experiences will generate not only brand preference, brand purchase and ultimately brand loyalty and advocacy.

A number of International Advertising Agencies and Research companies have developed solutions to answer these vital questions, as their clients are realizing that they need to obtain more tangible, measurable value from their marketing spend. However one reliable methodology appears to have been developed by a company based in Nicosia, Cyprus.

In the next article we will explore how their methodology works, how robust it is and how it provides marketers with the answers to optimize marketing spend.

Now I have a request for your help.

I know that there are people in cyberspace who have read my previous article, the excellent analysis from AMEInfo tells me that - yet I have not had a single email response from any readers.

I could assume that you all agree with my point of view but that would be too egotistical of me. The main point I am trying to make is that measurement (in this instance feedback) would enable me to deliver a better article, more focused on the needs of my audience - and this, in a sense is something we are all trying to do as marketers.