Mass Marketing Yields to Conversational And Tribal Communications

The final day’s keynote was given by Creative Artists Agency Entertainment Division CEO Mike Windsor and Berlin Cameron Managing Partner Avi Dan. The thrust of the talk centered on the now common theme of consumer control and the wane of traditional media. While Windsor prognosticated the death of mass “push” media and the rise of involvement and conversation marketing, Dan, defended the :30 as a viable ad unit.

Windsor began by citing a dramatic rise in spend on alternative marketing, offering as examples the Hollister Lounge 22 in-store concerts and the ilovebees campaign for the online game Halo, which required people to solve a mystery using both on and offline methods. Windsor also advocated a focus on creating passion for a brand using the example of TiVo’s appearance (although not a product placement) in Sex and the City. As part of embracing passion-based marketing, Windsor told marketers to listen and understand their own customer’s passions and cater to those passions. Passion begets passion. Windsor said brands that cater to consumers passions will fare better in the consumer controlled marketplace.

Dan admitted to the audience he may be seen as the sacrificial lamb but insisted the :30 still has a place in the marketing tool kit, citing the effectiveness, long term recall an cultural proliferation of Super Bowl commercials. That said, he said the ratio of consumer spending on media to advertising supported media is the highest its every been, indicating the consumer may in fact be taking over. While many cite TiVo as the death of the television advertising medium, Dan claimed it’s the best thing to happen to it. Measuring which commercials are actually watched allows marketers to kill bad ads.

Dan admits mass marketing is over and suggests a new era of tribal marketing which he described as a combination of niche marketing, fragmentation and designer brand product development. With the fall of mass marketing and intrusion marketing, Dan said collaboration with consumers during product development and customer management, versus brand management, will lead to success.

In the Q and A, an audience member asked how mass marketing can move to a more consumer focused approach if marketers continue to express their methods with warlike terminology such as targeting, acquiring, launching and blitzing. Windsor replied with a logical, straight forward answer. “when marketing becomes a dialog, this will change. A dialog is not a war.”