Democratization of Marketing

This morning while reading a copy of Marketing Management, I came across an interesting article about a trend in marketing geared towards democratization.  This meaning that consumers are playing an increasingly powerful role in creating value in goods and services in the marketplace.  The article cites Dove’s Real Beauty campaign that rejected the conventional image of beauty often times aided by digital editing software as shown in this YouTube clip below, and played out in marketing and advertising campaigns for years and years. The Dove campaign took shape over time and was driven by market research that revealed a growing disconnect between the way women perceived themselves and the way in which they were portrayed in the media.

The point in all of this is that in a democratic marketplace (B2B or B2C), customers are they key.  If they aren’t satisfied with the value of your goods or services, your customers will take their business elsewhere just as soon as they can.  That is why it is up to us as marketers to not only offer quality at fair price, but we also have to find new ways to create value for our customers.  We can begin to do this by listening to our customers, and then introducing products and services that add value to their experience.
The article provides six principles to democratic marketing:

1. Exchange – the act of buying and selling has to create value for each, and should be fair and equitable.  Pricing is a key determinant here.
2. Consumption – offers customers the opportunity to consume products and services that improve the quality of their own products, services, etc.
3. Choice – strikes the balance between diversity and confusion, and helps to create added value both real and perceived.
4. Information – provided with minimal intrusion, and done so in a way that is interesting and relevant.
5. Participation – empowers customers, and engages them in design of your goods and services.
6. Inclusion – reaches out to all consumers, across all values and cultures.

Ready for the mirror test?
It’s always helpful to hold up a mirror and look back at your marketing strategy to determine if its hitting on the points listed above.  I know because we do this every day in our effort to reach more customers.  Are we creating a healthy exchange value for our customers, i.e., are our products priced at levels that provide value to our target customer?  Are our marketing messages engaging to them (I don’t know, you tell me)?  Could we be developing additional products or services to better serve our customers, or perhaps other markets that are currently underserved?

These are all great questions to ask when re-examining your marketing mix.  I hope this was a meaningful post, and you can let me know by posting a comment.

Until then…