By: John Bradford

John Bradford — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:36:41 +0000

Interesting premise – I am an old goat so communication changes are hard to fathom. But things I’ve read and experts I’ve met (2) say that the “old” ways still are perfectly valid – however there is increasing use of internet portals (?) to validate and sense the worth of a given person, product, or company. In other words, media
reaches people a lot of ways – and even if the methods are”ancient” they work – and often cause people to check us out online. I’ve seen plenty of “surveys” which say 80% business folks find and decide on products/services to buy – but that doesn’t say they do it for everything – and it doesn’t mean that the purchasing process for hard goods, expendables, and a lot of services isn’t a function of many people, many issues, and some way to make thoughtful decisions using all possible input, online or other. Trade shows, for instance, are said by attendees to hugely influential or even decisive in choice of product or service. This is not a statement that all products are purchased that way – it is conclusive statement that folks who go to trade shows find them very useful – usually. As to print media and TV, the numbers of viewers/readers and “pass along” readers has always been known – and the types of readers. In some cases, these media are simply wonderful – in some cases they’re horrible. Does online “social” stuff take over from here – not if you’re selling to GE, 3M, and the US govt. But it has its place. And it can be a fairly effective and low cost way to get the story out – or provide support/validation. As to getting a “virus” message starting around the world to sell hula hoops, those are fun to know about – but silly to plan for – or try for. Internet programmers were charging $100,000 for a routine web site 7 years ago – I can get one now for $1,000. That tells us a lot.

Comments on: Marketing Through the Recession

By: John Bradford