Notes from the Associate Board
The Future Will Be Integrated
By Douglas Bender
Convergence is causing a communication shift in today’s marketplace, while digital innovations are changing the shape of consumer relationships. These facts are compelling brands to develop integrated marketing strategies that tap into changing consumer lifestyles through the use of new technologies, altering how these companies think about their business models. Despite the near-ubiquity of the internet and cell phones, the fragrance industry has yet to capitalize on the opportunities these technologies provide. Fragrance is still not incorporated into customers’ lives in ways that ignite the enthusiastic brand loyalty experienced by other industries. After attending Selling Scents, an event hosted by the Fragrance Foundation on March 12th at the Paley Center for Media, and hearing the panel’s call to action, it seemed worthwhile to further explore the idea of integrated marketing so as to better understand what it entails.
Some believe integrated marketing is simply an exercise in consumer relationship management (CRM) while others see it only as cross-channel media mixes. While CRM and cross-channel media strategies are certainly elements of integrated marketing, the concept transcends both. Integrated marketing challenges brands to develop a harmonious approach, balancing technological innovation with consumer expectations. For example,CRM strategies often involve targeting brand loyalists and catering to their needs. In such scenarios, the brand assumes responsibility for maintaining the relationship. Integrated marketing, however, moves away from consumer relationship management (CRM) to consumer-managed relationships (CMR), focusing on supplying consumers with the tools necessary to manage their own relationships with brands. Empowering consumers with this responsibility allows companies to focus on fostering a two-way dialogue with their consumers. The brand gains access to intimate customer knowledge, which can be translated into media responses, product development, or line editing. This dialogue helps create a stronger bond between buyer and seller, and a more powerful, co-sponsored brand message.
To better understand the move to CMR, just look at M.A.C. M.A.C.’s understanding of make-up artists’ needs helped forge solid consumer relationships. In order to create the right product mix, they listened to their artists on the job. The artists, in turn, became passionate about the product, helping to generate sales. Drawing consumers into the dialogue resulted in the formation of an active community that grew into a cult following. By relying on word-of-mouth, social networking, and other cost effective strategies, M.A.C. matched the free-spirited nature of the brand to channels appropriate to their message. The move to CMR transformed a normal loyalty program, aimed at a small segment, into a grassroots movement that continues to outperform the competition.
Cross-channel promotion is at the heart of integrated marketing. Creating a communications strategy using both old and new media, however, is only the shell of the idea. Integrated marketing uses the cross channel mix not only to extend reach, but to enhance the efficacy of the message. Rather than getting the same message out on every media platform, it’s about how each additional platform resonates with other channels in the mix to enhance the brand message and customers’ brand experience.
In creating The Matrix franchise, the Wachowski Brothers combined marketing and conceptual movie making to create a new way of telling a story. The brothers launched a television and internet teaser campaign asking “What is the Matrix?” in support of the first film. As the saga unfolded across additional films, they looked to alternative media — from animation and comics to gaming — to fill gaps in the narrative and to extend their reach beyond the movie audience. Loyal fans got a deeper look at what it’s like to be in The Matrix, while the alternative channels introduced new customers into the mix. The degree of involvement, however, was left to consumers. By enhancing the experience, The Matrix sparked conversation both online and off. The movies and collateral materials led to a billion dollar global success, and a startling change in how people think about movie production.
Integrated marketing embraces the cyclical relationship between brands and consumers. Today’s consumers expect brands to interact with them. They are skeptical of brands that don’t, and skeptical consumers don’t buy. That said, nothing about integrated marketing means handing over complete control of a brand to consumers. While it does mean showing a bit of vulnerability, it doesn’t mean sacrificing brand integrity. Loyalists do not want to take over your brand, but they would like to be your friends… that is, as long as you are listening to them. Brands and consumers are looking for the same thing: A trusted relationship and products everyone can believe in. In fact, this type of collaboration might sound quite similar to the relationship that currently exists between fragrance houses and manufacturers. Integrated marketing may dictate how that sort of collaboration can be developed to inspire fragrance consumers.
[Article originally appeared in the Spring 2008 Edition of The Fragrance Foundation’s Fragrance Forum]
