Traditional marketing pushes messages to people who aren’t listening. Anything you create; brochures, direct marketing, telemarketing, exhibitions have all been designed for people who don’t want to hear it. They are not interested anymore in our egotistical approach to selling how good we are and how we are different from our many, many competitors. There is no demand for messages, they want conversation and an intelligent one at that.

Customers want to look you in the eye, even online. They don’t want the truth disguised in corporate speak, nor, repackaged as public relations spin. They can smell BS a mile off.

Customer expectations have changed radically, yet most businesses marketing campaigns have become inert. Those that commission marketing consultancies who create campaigns around traditional approaches deserve everything they get…indifference. No wonder marketing is failing. No marketing strategy should be developed without a long, hard look at how to build credibility and reputation. Have a high level conversation with your customers rather than broadcasting the usual crap about your product. Customers are listening to conversation, but not to the bombardment of traditional marketing techniques we keep spewing out.