http://clipart-for-free.blogspot.com/2008/08/coffee-cup-clipart.html

I was quite fascinated by reading Yahoo/BBDO’s joint study on the brandchannel.com blog this evening. The study showed that not only do businesses want to get into the mind of consumers, but consumers seem to also want to get into the mind of businesses. The article mentions how consumers want to understand businesses and dialogue with them, and don’t appreciate being “shouted at” or nagged at. It seems like common sense, but the study makes a good point: treat your customers like you’d like to be treated (the Golden Rule). Marketing in the past has gotten a bad rap from pushy insurance salespeople pressuring you into buying something you find out you really never needed, but it seems customers are now finally putting their foot down and refusing altogether to deal with such obnoxious marketing. Instead, they now see themselves as equal trading partners with businesses, rather than mere buyers.

We are just coming up to our first midterm in Comm293 (*gasp*) next weekend, and I see that my attitude towards marketing has already changed considerably. When I think of a “marketer,” I no longer picture the pushy salesperson in my head, but rather think of a person who tries to connect my wants and desires with products that may help fulfill those desires. I think customers these days are beginning to view marketing more like this, and hence see business transactions as part of a relationship with them in the company. As in any relationship, customers want to know more about the other party and what common ground they hold with them. Consumers nowadays want to do business with companies that share their values (such as ecofriendliness or ethics).

As I begin to think of my future in marketing, I strive to keep this in mind and begin to develop a genuine relationship with customers, seeing them more as “people” than mere “consumers.”