The financial services market (the TG i happen to work with) is going through radical upheaval and tornado-eic weather. In such a scenario, how does one market and communicate business and technology innovation to the concerned TG? From digitizing technology and addressing the needs of transparency and regulations while fostering a risk averse environment to win the mindshare of their fast-disappearing customers, to offering service and process innovation – these are the criteria where solution providers should be making a noise about, but does all of this really offer recourse to a financial services firm that is out there on the battle lines, so to say? To convince the incredulous and partake in — and benefit from — some of that positive thinking – is that what they call ‘drive’?
Applying creative communication to large, anonymous audiences has been considered less effective ever since Web2.0 and social media marketing banged their way into the scene. Strategies shifted to mass media with emphasis on target audiences that are studied in-depth through relentless mining of previous behaviour, data, unpredicted actions and making so-called intelligent projections. Understanding customers would mean that marketing work closely with customer relationship managers and craft individual programs and contact strategies for each segment/type/region/domain/behaviour. All of this is fine when there is a semblance of commonality in the way people react. What happens when accepted notions of safety are turned topsy turvy and their very premise questioned? When new questions arrive with the same speed as the much-talked about bailouts? Panic. Paranoia.
In times of uncertainty, does one wait and watch and see where clients want to put their money and, in the interim, look at improving brand visibility across all segments? Obviously, a mix of the two is called for. In a b2b scenario, does interactive marketing work? Through the engagement ads of Facebook and other forms of social/internet marketing like a presence on Secondlife, without the accompanying organizational cultural changes needed to work with these media, and being comfortable with the associated transparency they usher into a company and those who run it, work at all? How does one change the internal mindset and then work on building customer technographic profiles and, subsequently, buil the marketing program accordingly? Many of these customers aren’t tech savvy at all – so one needs to educate them along with internal stakeholders and then create a unique program that will keep them all engaged. Scepticism. Or Opportunity?
Selling products in the b2b space – products that have been created in-house and in some instances inherited organically – to a financial services customer whose attention span where IT budgets are concerned is limited to only ‘containment’ takes on interesting shades of complexity. Isn’t it a time when the rapport one shares with customers becomes the only selling point? Products that are topped with exemplary customer service, that can be tailor made to client expectations, and rest on a strong IT services framework, delivered with a dash of consulting expertise in the domain in rapid time. Gobble. Gobble. How does one acquire all of this? When the so-called instruments that were created to factor in risks in financial markets themselves collapsed, heralding an unprecedented era of risk, what can you base your theories on? Hope.
‘Calling for change in times of change’ – the motto of the hour. And, this, while also unlearning and shedding off what may have been considered the Holy Grail in marketing communication so far. Humility.
