The End of Command & Control Branding

Dear Modza

Thank you for posing your comment - I actually get this one alot in my new role as the Global Director of Integrated Marketing for BearingPoint.

1) There are over 50 Million technology influencers in the US alone (that would be 1 in 5 americans) now if you factor out my kids and my parents that number would actually be much higher. 

2) Less than 18% of those 50 Million technology influencers would be willing to buy from a company they never heard of before.

This means branding activities are very important up and down the decision making chain. I totally agree the TIBCO videos arent being watched by the CEOs of their clients but they are certainly being watched (as you pointed out) by the influencer who also will become the buyer of the future.

Trying new ways out to go the masses, there is no harm in
it. Mouth to mouth communication i.e advertising also
affects the branding.People or your consumer just spread
about your organization with no hoardings anywhere but
an office somewhere in countryside and your products are
more in demand.

What these web2.0 tools are doing? They are setting up a platform
to all your consumers to discuss about the likes and dislikes
of your products. It is going to affect the sales. If 10,000 people
just dont use your product at least once(just to try some other)
how much your sale is going to affect??

B2B companies not directly need to masses but they also depend
on the end user of the products , i.e , the customers. B2B
companies are somewhere down the line are going to be B2C. It is
 not cent percent compulsion but it affects.

And last but not the least all products are focused on the
end user . When the mass agrees upon a decision it will take
time and pain to make a firm stand on the market again

 Paul has drawn attention to a powerful attribute of a compelling marketing message; it has to link the product with a real issue that can attract all stakeholders  organize around it. The example of Campaign for real Beauty video was, in my view , really powerful and the example in its class.

While one could say such approaches may fall under traditional internet marketing employing different media, this video is beyond such a narrow classification. It seems to be a paradigm shift about how advertising/marketing is perceived and what attributes it should have to be really effective.

The Tibco video on the other hand is an example of organizing an ad as testimonial showcasing and uses a different approach than traditional branding.

One can still see  how C & C branding can be compatible with this approach; senior executives of  client firms can still be in control regarding how messages  focus at  buyers. Some would say, however, that the real danger in this area seems to be from a democratic movement in marketing lke employees' blogs which may not toe company's official line.

Everyone, individual, large company, small, consumer, B2B, nonprofit, government should be paying attention to what their constituencies - members, employees, owners, stockholders, leaders, vendors, customers, prospects, competitors. And social media are already a big and growing part of the lives of many of those.

But, Paul, even though I haven't been in the high tech biz for a few years now, I think I'm right to say TIBCO's actual buyers or potential buyers are the ones using social media. 

There's a new generation of geeks who are the first users and they're not the buyers or decision-makers...yet. 

 

I think we'll see more well-produced and entertaining ad campaigns (if you're gonna throw ads at us, at least make them interesting and thoughtful) - and more thoughtful criticism of them. The Dove ad was thoughtful and well-made (and supremely ironic if some of the models in the Dove campaign really had been digitally altered, as implied by the New Yorker), but I had more fun watching the subsequent parodies and take offs on You Tube.