The new age of customer-centric brand marketing
By Zion Rufus
Brands across the globe are beginning to ditch the product-driven and sales-driven marketing strategy to become more consumer-centric in all their dealings. Businesses now focus their marketing strategies on providing a positive personal experience for their consumers by getting to know their customers, understanding who they are, their buying behavior, carrying out researches on what they need, and also launching platforms that enable personalised interactions and feedbacks.
Validating the above piece of information is Mr. John Ajayi, the MD/CEO of MARKETING EDGE, Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing publication. The ace journalist and integrated marketing communications industry powerhouse holds that today’s brands no longer distance themselves from the consumers. He opined that gone are the days of distancing, adding that brands rather do all in their powers to connect, relate and even customise. “It is indeed a brand new epoch in the competitive Nigeria marketing environment,” he quipped.
According to the brand marketing dynamo, the emergence of a plethora of products and brands in different market segments in contemporary marketplace has created a radical paradigm shift. Unlike in the past when products on offer in the market available for the consumer’s attention were few and far between thereby making it largely a sellers’ market, Ajayi noted that “today, the reverse is the case”. “At the core of any successful brand marketing strategy is the consumer. It is an integral aspect for both B2Bs and B2Cs.”
Quoting from decades of marketing experience and expertise, Ajayi explained that “in the sellers’ market of old, consumers were practically at the mercy of product manufacturers and suppliers. They had no options than to accept whatever products they were offered. This was because the options were very few. But in the buyers’ market, consumers have options and even motley of varieties of products and brands struggling in the red ocean of their respective segments”.
He maintained that not only do the consumers have options in the buyers’ market of today, emphasizing that they are baited with exciting and mouthwatering offers to woo them (consumers) against competitors’ offerings.
Consumer-centric marketing shouldn’t just end in promotional materials. It should be consistent in the mind of the brand and the minds of the people interacting with the business. Although it can take a significant amount of effort to find the balance between content that promotes you versus content your consumers are interested in, an effective customer-centric marketing plan should also go beyond creating the perfect ads. Research on consumer analytics and data are also very important in understanding who your consumers are, what they need, what their reactions are, including their locations.
Optimising the customer journey shouldn’t only be in the advertising efforts but also in the internal business model. A true customer-centric marketing strategy starts outside of a campaign and inside the business.
According to the Director of Procter & Gamble and eBay56, Scott D. Cook, “a brand is no longer what we tell consumers it is—it is what consumers tell each other it is”.
Brands should identify the needs of their consumers without simply relying on how great the products are, including knowing how much the products can help the consumers in order to build a lasting relationship with them even after a purchase has been made.
This will enable a continuous cycle of engagement, consistent patronage, awareness, loyalty, and even emotional attachment from the consumer to the brand. This will drive profit for the brand and enable them to gain a more competitive advantage over others.
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