Commentary

Logging In: Going With the Flow

Logging In: Going With the FlowSome brands are just in the zone

Back in the day, a marketer's job was pretty simple: Keep one eye on your Kotler, the other on your market research. The connection between brand and customer was remote, impersonal and top-down.

That "connection" was based on the following calls (and responses) to action: "Fill out a survey to let me know what you want. If your needs match those of 80 percent of the public at large, I will come up with a product, priced to sell, available at a store near you. You will be informed of its existence by a TV commercial that will run just before the 6 o'clock news. If you want more information, write to the post office box number on the label. A reply will be sent by mail; look for it in four to six weeks. If that seems too long, you can always visit the distributor ..."

Ah, the good old days.

Then, technology got in the game, and consumers found their voices. Suddenly, they could address questions and comments directly to the brand - no middleman, no mailman, no filter. The phone, then the Web, then mobile devices all played a part in breaking down barriers, paving the way for an unmediated exchange and creating a headache for some brands in the process. Still, there seems to be a silver lining for companies smart enough to discern opportunity amid the chaos.

Brands that get it, the ones that understand the importance of the consumer's voice, have invented (although they may not realize it) a new discipline with a bright future: We call it Flow Marketing. In psychology, a "flow" state is characterized as "a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, success of the activity." It's that feeling you sometimes get of being "in the zone."

Shouldn't all marketers aspire to create a truly comfortable relationship between their customers and their brands? Imagine a world where consumer calls and e-mails are answered right away by the right person; where company Web sites load quickly and are easy for people to use; where online product information is clear, helpful, and available in formats suited to every device a customer might wish to consult at the supermarket or in a home-improvement store.

Flow Marketers anticipate and predict the ways new technologies can enhance their customers' well-being. Think of when FedEx enabled customers to track their shipments online, or when Apple invented iTunes. Or when L'Oréal Paris made advice videos and skin-care analysis available on iPhones. That's Flow Marketing.

Consumers are often quicker than marketers to grasp the benefits of a new technology. After all, how long did it take some big brands to open a call center? Or a contact center? Or to make their Web sites accessible? Or provide transparent access to inventory levels?

New communications technologies not only increase opportunities, they also heighten consumer expectations. Enlightened brands - the ones that catch on fast - raise the bar for the competition by offering consumers more (and more satisfying) engagement. The laggards have to scramble, or risk frustrating their own customers as they struggle to catch up.

By the way, how's that iPhone site working out for you?

Jean Pascal Mathieu is vice president of strategy at Nurun.

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