Death of a Salesman
by Adrian Hanft, (2 comments)
A couple of posts back I was talking about a new consumer. I wanted to explain a little more what I meant. We, as consumers, are changing the way companies sell their products. We are also realizing that we have more and more power in the marketplace. The three main reasons for this are: 1. We have an increased disposable income, 2. We have access to unlimited market information, and 3. We are immune to advertisements. Here is what that means...
A couple of posts back I was talking about a new consumer. I wanted to explain a little more what I meant. We, as consumers, are changing the way companies sell their products. We are also realizing that we have more and more power in the marketplace. The three main reasons for this are: 1. We have an increased disposable income, 2. We have access to unlimited market information, and 3. We are immune to advertisements. Here is what that means:
1. We have an increased disposable income. I am not saying we make more per year, but we are rearranging our budgets to cut out the things we don't need, and spending more on things that we want (toys). I am going to buy the generic breakfast cereal and detergent so I can spend more on things that I really want, like an iPod. The American dream.
2. We have access to unlimited market information. We don't have to guess whether or not a product is going to be what we want. We can not only compare products side by side, but we can also read how other customers rate the products, and why they decided to buy what they did. This may seem obvious, but this is huge. Never before has the customer been so informed. This is the death of the salesman.
3. We are immune to advertisements. Think of the few commercials that do manage to break through your shell and you actually pay attention to. For me I think of ads by Apple, Volkswagon, Nike, Hummer, Toyota. Those big guys recognize that if they are going to penetrate our shell, their ads are going to have to be something more than memorable. They have to make our life better because we saw their ad. That is where the really great advertising is happening right now.
As this trend increases, it is going to revolutionize the way business is done. Company's will have to court the customer like never before. They are going to have to give something to the customer before they ever spend a dollar. We will not be fooled into buying mediocre products. We do not have patience for corporate corruption. We have the money and intelligence. That means we have the power.
Comments (2)
Nicole Pacampara said:
This is a really old reply digging up your archives but your ideas are very much quite the same as the one found in the book No Logo. I agree with all that you say completely though it makes me wonder as well, is this sophistication of marketing really making us have more power?
In some ways, it seems as if consumerism has devoured our every day lives that despite this so-called power, it seems, well, we have something that resembles power but in reality is just an illusion.
Is it really power to us to pay for things that are simply branded a Nike or an Apple. There are numerous other brands out there that are probably much better (as in the case of Ipod with other “better” brands) but because as you said, we’ve seen their ads and we felt they’ve made us better, well, we develop a connection.
I am rambling. Just something to think about. That No Logo book definitely made me think about this.
Posted on May 29, 2006
Adrian said:
Nicole, I agree with me too! That is a relief since I wrote it almost two years ago! I was about halfway through No Logo before I had to return it to the library. I should check it out again and finish it becauese I really liked what I had read. Thanks for your comment.
Posted on May 30, 2006