There is a curious trend in the world of publishing today. Publishers are increasingly become brands, and brands are transforming themselves as publishers! Take Forbes for example. In the business of traditional publishing Forbes has diversified its product offering with the Forbes Wine Club and Forbes Elite Identity ProtectionServices. Simply as a means to use their brand credibility to sell products that are not related to the core business.
Over the past few years there has been a dynamic landscape shift in the way media disseminates information, news in particular. Some popular formats have wrapped their production, newspapers have exhausted their inks, and new formats crowd our newsfeed. And a catalyst for such a dynamic shift is the way people consume news and information today. As per Pew Research Center, 91% of adults in America use a device. The same researcher offers another statistic showing the rise in social networking usage amongst users from 2005 – 2012! And this isn’t a figure that has gone unnoticed by news producers!
In april the Big Blue announced that it would be investing an additional $100 million into a recently formed marketing consulting division IBM Interactive Experiences. The division brings together IBM’s digital marketing and related businesses such as data analytics and design under one umbrella, all of which are aimed at helping companies target and market to customers more effectively.
Brands are not built by advertising alone. Neither are consumers only those who buy a product. Today, a consumer is anyone who is consuming your brand and its identity.
Marketing function, as we knew it has changed a lot since the time the first digital advert appeared almost two decade ago. In this connected society, the focus has radically shifted in favor of the consumer. This is driven by three key factors; A self educated consumer, powered by search; conversations driven by social media, and the perpetual connectivity powered by ever increasing penetration of the Internet.
