Today my E-Marketing professor, Julio Visko, walked the class through the different stages of relationships between a customer and a brand. The second stage is called “intimate relationships” and that thing – right there – really got me thinking.

In an everyday context an intimate relationship is something that is build on elements such as trust, loyalty and positive, shared experiences. In simple words, both parties know each other, understand each other, and to me that is exactly what the second stage of customer-brand relationships is about.

BUT my big question is: Do we really know who we are dealing with? Do we know who these “digital people” are – the ones that are using all the new technology?

While studying in the interdisciplinary programme “Business Adm. & Corporate Communication” I have learned a lot about segmentation, marketing, communication plans and so forth. But from my point of view it’s crucial to understand the sociological perspective on the digital, as the digital expert Brian Solis also argues in his book “Engage”. We need to understand the digital people before we can carry out the marketing projects and build intimate relationships with them!

So, who are we dealing with?

Søren Schultz, professor at Copenhagen Business School, has offered an interesting perspective on this subject. He argues that the new technologies and social media have dramatically changed our behavior and the way we construct our identity. Drawing on Goffman and McLuhan he explains how his research finds that:

1. We have lost control of our own “image” to such a degree that what once played out back stage or in the middle region is now happening front stage. Everything is public – and that goes for brands as well.
2. We have become intimate with the new technology in the  way that McLuhan argued when he wrote that a technology becomes an extension of the person that uses it.
3. The new techonology has brought along a new form of dependence. We have transcended the constraints of time and space but that means that we are now supposed to be available at all times. You could say that we are in some way dependent on time.

Now you’re maybe thinking: “Well, that sounds like some pretty dramatic and yet quick conlusions” – but fear not. I will devote my next 3 blog post to elaborate on the subject of “who we are dealing with” and the thoughts and research behind these findings. Because to me, that is absolutely crucial.

/Marcus Feldthus