E...xciting Times For Consumers

The letter "E" is fast becoming the most important letter in the sErvicE and consumEr products arena. It would be ridiculous to profess that this is some "new" revelation. However with a deeper evaluation of the entire "E" marketing concept it is evident that science is what is really behind the phenomenon. The collection and exploitation of data is the core fuel that makes the "E" engine run. Keystrokes, clicks, pop-ups, and even face recognition are all used to drill down into exactly what stimulates us all to buy. Moreover what keeps our heads tuned in for more than a nano second to an image or words that put a sexy impression in our mind. When we do want to purchase we pick that image out of our overloaded brain and buy from the company with the most advanced tracking system, not necessarily from the company with the best product. (Although, more times than not the most sophisticated marketers often put the same effort into their products.)

Remember when food companies used subliminal images in movies to stimulate purchases of their products. That tactic was regulated out of the movie industry. What I believe is important to note is that we now are continually blasted with subliminal messages on virtually every page we visit online. That's right. I may be visiting a site that helps me understand publishing and in the corner....there it is.......a picture of a Coke bottle. You know the new red bottle that appears in everything from NASCAR broadcasts to AOL email. It's everywhere. No words to explain the unusual placement. No price or mention of a sale going on. No mention of the quality or benefits of the product. Just that red Coke bottle with the white lettering blasting out the words "Coca-Cola".

Consumers have the products and services at their finger tips faster than ever before, and since the cost of marketing is cheaper, often the savings is realized in the price of the products.

There are many of these little reminders that combined and add up in our minds. If a company, (such as yours) isn't using this branding (or subliminal marketing) it is missing out on the benefits of this powerful tool. Because of the massive amount of data and the sophisticated analysis tools available it is no longer a crap shoot as to finding where your demographic is. In a recent discussion with a colleague I was told a story of a legal specialist who found that the fastest growing segment of the Facebook population is women around 55. Guess what? It's a prime age for divorces to happen. Voila! The specialist runs some targeted ads on facebook for a few days at a time and gets more business than they can handle. The science of reading and interpreting statistical data results in more sales that have a low cost of aquisition. Data is occurring all around us. Some of it we want to protect, some of it we want to gather, and some if it we want out there for others to find. Data is our friend. If we use it wisely it will lead us to success. E....verything we do online is captured somewhere. The data is out there. Make it your job to tap into the stream and use it wisely. I'll use a corny SiFi saying to make the point......."LEt thE forc...E bE with you!"