#relationshipera

We are living now in a Relationship Era where relationships are far more important than just selling a product. In the Consumer Era, the focus was on the product and mass advertising worked well. The process was not very complex and it included identifying a need, developing a product to satisfy that need, doing a marketing campaign for a specific target market and using the right channels for that audience. In today’s world people love or hate brands and they become their best advocates for their success or failure. Now it is more than just doing advertising for the simple purpose of buying. Today is about aspirations, experiences and feelings that go beyond the product.

Social media has become a premier form of communication where people can talk about their experience with brands and with companies. It has a big impact on how a company is evaluated 24/7 and can have big network effects. With all of this connectivity and the easiness to communicate with others, brands are more exposed than ever. Now, it is not only about the functionality of a product, people care deeply about the brand’s essential self.

It is remarkable how mass media and mass marketing are collapsing. Instead, there are now opportunities to do more tailored advertising through the social media outlets. Companies have the chance to be more closely to their target markets and they have the risk of messing up and creating an exponential negative publicity with a limitless reach.

Management should understand that Branding is not only a responsibility of the marketing department. It should encompass the entire organization and it should be consistent with the purpose and the values of the company. In this Relationship Era, branding is about getting into the heads and hearts of consumers. Brands should fuel aspirations and experiences for the consumers and they need to convey the values of the organization.

Human nature plays a vital role in today’s world and companies should strive to have a REAL purpose. That purpose needs to be consistent throughout all the activities of the organization: recruiting, hiring, compliance, management, etc. It has been proved that companies with purpose perform better than other companies, even in times of economic downturns. With the digital revolution and the unlimited access of information, companies need to build TRUST on their consumers not only with the company itself but with its products and services.

When people adore brands they take ownership and defend them against everything. They become their best advocates and thus one of the greatest assets that a company can have. Sustainability relies on trust and on these mutually beneficial relationships. So the big question is, how do you get loyal customers that will talk about your product and generate network effects in this interconnected world?

Managers need to understand that companies need to be respected for how they conduct themselves and for what they sell. And most importantly they need to realize that core values cannot be faked. It is not something that you just write down on paper. For this to be real, everyone in the company needs to live by the values across all aspects of the company and management needs to be the best example of this and make sure everyone is on board. A key takeaway is that value-based relationships command loyalty and trust.

Interesting article: