News

From Facebook ads to Twittering CEOs, marketing is changing faster than the latest app download for your mobile. To find out what's currently happening in this industry, where it's going in the next five years and what the opportunities are for small business, Incubator talked to three outstanding marketing leaders:

Mark Ferrier, president of Traffik Group, a brand activation agency that works with local companies in Canada and helps global companies activate in Canada.

Jeremy Gayton, VP and general manager at Taxi2, part of Taxi Inc Canada, an independent advertising and communications network.

Greg Salmela, principal of Aegis Toronto, a design firm that approaches marketing from an anthropological point of view.

What do we generally understand to be marketing?

MF Marketing is identifying a consumer need and fulfilling that need. In this economy, it's also about adding value. Our entire business (at Traffik) is based on simplicity of message and idea. The clearer we can articulate the idea — in six words, one visual, one simple video — the better.

JG It's the process or discipline that helps facilitate a connection between a product or service and a target audience, usually based on a want.

GS The heart of marketing is people. Anthropology is the study of human beings and human culture. What is marketing other than human beings communicating with other human beings? The common factor is human beings. What we do is develop rapport with companies and audiences on a very human level.

What are the platforms most small businesses utilize and what are the strengths and weaknesses of those platforms?

MF I think that the platforms most small businesses are using are unfortunately the traditional ones. Part of that is access and part of that is relevance. A small business owner usually has a traditional definition of marketing with traditional advertising. The gap really comes in when you look at new or online media versus traditional media.

The actual medium is what I call the playground. That's not the problem. The problem is to get the play right. The play can be defined across all mediums. Online is a great example of a playground once you get the play right. If not, it's just a very cost intensive model.

The problem with advertising in TV commercials is they're being defined by a new scorecard. Where I used to see a brand or brand equity, now I see entertainment. YouTube has trained us to look at content differently. It's trained us to say, did it entertain me or not? If not, then I'm done.

I don't think TV is going away but it's being redefined. I watch TV on my cell phone; I have video on my iPod. There's a study that says 40 to 50 per cent of the 20 to 25 demographic watch TV with a laptop on their lap. It's choice.

JG There are traditional mass communications platforms — television, radio, newspaper — which are great for establishing a mass reach and a quick build for a brand. You're also starting to see smaller businesses taking advantage of relationship marketing where you can establish a two-way dialogue with the consumer. Then you see all the emerging technologies that are driving different platforms like social media and the online world which takes that two-way dialogue a step further and translates that into an experience that a consumer can have with a brand.

The biggest strength of social media is the ability to have a conversation with a consumer. The flip side is you're putting your brand into the hands of consumers and they ultimately take control over the presence of that brand in the environment.

If you take a social media application like Twitter, you're allowing consumers to have a dialogue and exchange with your brand with other participants in that space. So you're basically putting yourself out there and allowing that dialogue to continue beyond your control. Of course, you can listen in and contribute to the conversation — but if you're not being authentic and transparent with your activity in those spaces, they'll call you on it really fast.

GS I really don't care about platforms. My interest is in the human connection. It's about the dynamics of how human beings form culture and how we connect with each other. That informs how we develop our marketing plans.

Where does social media and mobility fit into the mix?

MF I think social medium platforms really deliver on the play. The magic of those mediums is they're super-simplifying the message. It forces business owners to be very articulate in what their value proposition is to the consumer — and then get the play right to give them a fun and engaging way to experience it online.

Twitter and Facebook are consumer driven properties. When a brand enters that space, they need to understand the dynamic of that space in order to participate successfully. One of the things we counsel clients on is that you just can't dabble in the social media sphere. It's not a tactic, it's a platform where you can put your brand on a pedestal and have consumers interact directly. You need to understand how that works — what the key influences are — the same way you would evaluate a media plan 10 or 12 years ago.

JG The world of traditional media is by no means going away. We now just have a broader sweep of platforms to engage a consumer. So it's not like social media is going to replace television or radio. It's a complement to that activity to be able to talk in a fuller way to the consumer or audience.

You can't ignore the world of applications — iPhone and iPod. When Apple launched their app store, I doubt that they expected to hit a billion app downloads in (the first) nine months. That's a sign that social media is becoming larger and larger in the mobility sphere as time goes on.

GS Social media is very much in the anthropological equation. What is the culture of this audience? How do they create culture? How do they interact? What are the dynamics? What's important? What are their values? This is all very important to determine where and how we're going to reach them.

How is marketing evolving?

MF Marketing is evolving in a simple way — we're losing control of it. But that's a great thing for us as consumers. I'm thrilled because the power of brands is actually transitioning in a significantly rapid way to consumers.

The opportunities for small business owners or entrepreneurs are that we're going to be able to fulfill those needs — hopefully faster and more nimbly than bigger organizations. That doesn't mean all marketing is going to smaller business. What it means is that the spirit of marketing will deliver on the consumer need as consumers have higher expectations, more access to information and don't need messages anymore. They need value and clear consistency.

JG Consumers are absolutely in control and more so as days go by.

Who's doing it right in the social media space?

MF The brands who are doing it right holistically are the ones who have found a very simple way to communicate to consumers. If you look at brands like Xbox, they're doing a good job. They define what they are and consistently deliver on it.

JG If you look at Twitter, there's an American online shoe company called Zappos that is doing a fantastic job in that environment. One reason for their success is that their internal culture defines their brand so their presence is very authentic, very transparent. The CEO of Zappos is regularly on Twitter engaging his employees and consumers all for the world to see.

Who's doing it wrong?

MF Anyone who's marketing to themselves. When you're an entrepreneur, you want to say all the great things that you believe about your company. The challenge is that may not be what your customers or clients value the most. Whether you're a big brand or a small company, the biggest risk is that you market to yourself and don't find out what consumers want and deliver on that.

JG Marketers who say, "I need to be in social media" as opposed to saying, "I really need to understand this platform and the dynamic of interaction within this platform and how best to utilize it for an extension of my brand."

GS The marketing perspective is that you go in with fireworks and you buy up all the media and just blast your name out there and say you're the best. So why not use that as your positioning? It makes sense. But it doesn't make sense on a human level. Human beings work with a certain inbred protocol. There are certain rules about how to be invited or become a member of a social group. That applies to corporations as well as you and me.

I think the biggest mistakes are not understanding your audience; or understanding your audience, but not in terms that relate to their everyday life.

MF Humour is a scary, slippery slope. I think that humour is a great ice breaker, but make sure that it represents who you are and who you want to be. I would not sell life insurance or banking services through humour right now.

How should businesses navigate their budgets and expectations in this environment?

MF Conservatively. They should be focusing their message on their story, not their features or benefits, because the story will make or break a client or customer decision.

Marketing is usually the first thing that gets cut. The challenge is to figure out how to spend your money. Take the budget line off and just focus on the dollars. How do you invest those dollars so that every employee and current customer deliver your marketing message over and over? Whatever you do, do not divide it up by medium. Figure out the play before you figure out the playground.

The expectations of small business owners when it comes to marketing have been a horribly self-fulfilling prophecy. The gap, based on the current marketing model, is like a club that doesn't allow small business owners access to the smartest brains. As the world of marketing evolves, there's going to be a ton of freelance brains or small marketing organizations that pop up. That's a huge window of opportunity for entrepreneurs and small business owners to attach to some smart, well-trained people to tell them how to build the play and where to put it in the playground.

What is the fine line between 'cutting edge' and 'too early'?

MF The challenge that I have with both those terms is they often come up in post analysis (to redefine why it didn't work) versus great strategy. Once again, it's not the medium that's the problem. It's the play that people need to focus on. The playgrounds will always be cutting edge. There will always be new technologies and new mediums. The defining factor is, 'Are you getting the action?' That's usually defined by sales or interaction in the longer term.

JG I think they go hand in hand. To be a trail blazer, to be first into a market, is the sign of a marketer or agency identifying an opportunity that didn't exist before. So they've gone into the conventional world — whether it's media or social environment — and doubted, basically said, "Why is it done this way?" So they're really taking an informed and probably calculated risk saying, "This makes a lot of sense, it's in line with our objectives and our brand or product, so this is the way to go."

Being cutting edge is almost table stakes. There's such a proliferation of media vehicles available that in order for any communication to have any impact, it has to cut through. If you're cutting edge for the sake of being cutting edge, you could end up shooting yourself in the foot. But being cutting edge for the sake of being compelling and cutting through the clutter is something all marketers must take into consideration.

Where is marketing going in the next five years?

MF Into the hands of the consumer. Online is becoming a more flexible medium for consumers. I get to choose how and when I want information plus the level of that information, from Twitter to YouTube to blogs and posts on the advertising. I think that 'the choice is mine' is the power of the consumer and that's where it's going to continue to evolve for the next five years.

JG If I had to pick one, I think we're going to see a lot more activity in the mobile sphere. We've seen Apple with their apps store and now BlackBerry developing their own apps. That's done for value and utility to their users but it's also going to be a significant source of revenue for those folks when they figure out a way to monetize it from a marketers' point of view. You'll see marketers going out and creating apps that become a part of their marketing mix.

GS The choice of medium is exploding. There's going to be a continuum of the expansion of choices and powerful ways of delivering a message to a particular audience. The choice of medium matters but it's a tactical issue. What won't change is how human beings interact with other human beings.

What are the biggest challenges in marketing for small business?

MF The number one problem small business owners struggle with right now in this economy is the fight between the retention of customers and the acquisition of new customers. The other day I walked by a high end hair salon that had a sign offering 20 per cent off services for new customers only. If I were a regular customer, I'd be pissed.

You have to ask yourself, "Can I make that offer to everyone?" If you can't, think about how many customers you're going to lose. It's a consumer marketplace right now. If I left Bell today and went to Rogers, I'd get a better cell phone deal. If I left Rogers in three months and went to Telus, I'd get an even better deal. It's a fundamental mistake. Sooner or later, that cycle has to stop.

What's your advice to small business?

MF What I tell my clients is 'fewer, faster, better'. Fewer messages; get them to market faster; figure out if they're working or not in cost-efficient mediums and then make sure that they actually deliver on your value proposition batter. What consumers need to understand is who you are, what you are and why they need you in the most consistent way possible.

JG This a defensive time for a lot of the big players and marketers who are trying to protect their share in the marketplace right now. Smaller business and entrepreneurs who are able to identify opportunities have a wide breath of targets to steal from and also to grow by attracting new consumers.

GS There are a lot of small companies who remain small because they don't know how to communicate. If you don't know how to socialize, it will affect how you develop your marketing. Consultants or professionals can help bridge the gap with your audience and provide an understanding of your market.