• by Curt Doolittle , May 12, 2009

Businesses exist in a social and economic context. When that context changes, the businesses that conceive, manufacture, market and distribute products for consumers have to restructure or risk irrelevance.

Much more of our context has changed this year than is readily apparent. We are going through the largest shift in economic thinking since the 1930s. Everything we thought we understood about economics and politics since the Second World War just got consigned to the ash heap of history. Most economic theory turned out to be the academic version of "New Coke."

And the post-war consumer culture, with its cheap credit and high consumption, went out the window along with it. Society has changed. Dramatically.

That means you need to change your marketing organization -- because your business now exists in this new social context, too.

Here is one strategy you should consider: Split your budget in half -- one half for creating awareness using traditional media and one half for creating customer loyalty on the web.

Traditional media has reach, but distribution is very expensive. It's great for awareness, but it's very difficult to speak to large numbers of people and to say anything meaningful. That's why most ads are absurd or ironic today; it's the only thing large numbers of consumers can relate to. It's all they have in common. However, irony doesn't build loyalty. It only lasts until the next ironic ad comes along.

On the web, spend your money on creative excellence, not on distribution costs. (You won't save money.) If you do a good job producing interesting content that is highly specific and relative to the channel you're inserting it into, the content will spread on its own. And you'll develop loyalty because you show that you are sincere in your understanding of your customers.

Create a small version of a "Golden-Age-of-Hollywood" movie studio. Those big studios didn't look for blockbusters; they looked to keep people coming to the theater week after week. They produced volume on specific themes; themes that were important to people.

Produce a number of "posters" and short, 7- to 15-second clips that are different points-of- view on a theme that are dense and can be viewed repeatedly with incremental discovery. Think of fragmentary memories that string together to create an impression, rather than an overt narrative or pitch.

Think of looking through a doorway into another room where something interesting is going on. Let impressions and emotions do their work for you, rather than taglines and aphorisms. Avoid dialog and text as much as possible. Say it visually and subtly.

Place these vignettes, customized for every channel, with lots of impressions, over a three-week period. If they get tired, then stop them. You can re-issue them every six months.

Drive consumers to your web site where you can engage them with deep and rich content. Downplay feature/benefit arguments. Emphasize helping them achieve a result. Imagine a large party where you've invited a lot of people you don't know, and need to interact intimately with each of them. Ingratiate yourself. But if you wouldn't do it at a party where you don't know many people, then don't do it in social media.

Spend the rest of your budget on traditional media. Then let your organization evolve. It takes time to get good at the studio business. And build a new American Dream along with it.

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