E-marketing and Mr. Postawaski ...

Keeping up with all the twists and turns is driving marketing agencies and corporate marketing teams absolutely bonkers because the customer is now firmly entrenched in the 'driver seat.'

You've probably already heard about 'fragmentation' of the media and the need to 'segment' your addressable audience. The need to analyse, break down and distill until you get just the right juice. It's about streamlining for results (ideally quantifiable) so that communication is more direct, more focused, more personal.

In a nutshell, it's about creating an 'emotional' bond with the customer that goes beyond his or her consumption of your product or service. You do that not only because you want to create that increasingly elusive 'customer loyalty' to your brand but also as a preemptive strike; so he doesn't go behind your back and bad mouth you using the same targeted media that works just as well for him.

So companies in the know are now gradually diverting their budgets from the usual hit-and-miss mass media that has always been the staple of campaigns, to connecting with the audience in a more visceral way. Corporations are exploring the endless possibilities.

They're looking at creative sponsorships, example—where mobile phone companies get top billing for youthful concerts and underpin that with multiple layers of related promotions that engage the audience including merchandising, web and games. Just as increasingly, some of the large foodstuffs companies are opting for a more tactile engagement with potential audiences, and a more public service approach, by sponsoring health-related seminars with endorsed speakers and doctors.

But where the real customer empowerment is happening is the internet, of course. The gargantuan phenomenon is spawning hotbeds of viral marketing and idea viruses that are making brand owners positively squeamish.

So much so, that many of the large companies you know are setting up their own guerilla viral marketing teams (to infiltrate unsuspecting newsgroups and weblogs) and setting up their own corporate weblogs to retain modicum oversight over the unfettered dialogue.

The good thing, and the bad thing, about power over the internet is that it is quite democratic. Take Little Joe, for instance. He is eleven years old and he hates your vanilla pudding. Not only can he badmouth you to friends, but he can wreak more havoc on you through his website than all your competitors combined.

Little Joe can launch a crippling offensive on your brand telling every other kid in the neighborhood, no, the country, no, actually, the whole world---that your product is stringy or that he found a little bug at the bottom of the cup. If little Joe, is actually slightly older Joe, with a solid knowledge of vlogs (video logs) and mobile phone wizardry then you might as well close shop.

You could try running away from it, and start another sort of company, but unfortunately for you, the tentacles of customer-led marketing will reach you eventually. The other thing to keep in mind is that Little Joe doesn't even have to tell the truth, and, oh yeah... you couldn't sue him if you tried.

An interesting email was sent to me by my friend Sultan, from a Kacper M. Postawski of PowerfulSleep.com. Mr Kacper, bless his soul, has tapped into the formidable power of people-marketing. He sends emails to his customers that are aimed at building a special relationship with him. One email starts with him telling Sultan that he is getting married to his long time love Vanessa.

He gives him details about the engagement period and the imminent wedding. He tells him that the couple had already performed the Scottish ritual called "handfasting" but that they need to formalize their union. He rambles on about home, friends, his life...in the most heartwarming way. He throws in some details about his product (in a by-the-way sort of way) and accentuates it all with a couple of smileys and postscripts.

By the end of the email you know that you don't know Kacper Postawski, but you know that the guy has reached out to you and that you may even love him a little. Maybe enough to buy his product. He has managed to tap into the new marketing mother lode, folks, and you're definitely gonna see more Postawaskis around