The New Paradigm

What is traditional and what is non-traditional marketing? The answer to this question has been a moving target for the last two decades. In the 1980's this question would have a started a discussion comparing broadcast and print to direct mail and a variety of promotional marketing tactics. In the 1990's the discussion would have been about print and direct mail on the one hand and anything digital and/or online on the other. This year the discussion is about the newest form of non-traditional marketing–social media and everything else broadcast, print, direct mail, web sites, banner ads, email campaigns, etc.

The paradigm is changing. It used to be a company with a product would dress it up in the best light possible and sell it to as any consumers as possible.Strong sales allowed them improve the product and extend the line as well as beef up the marketing. The user experience was not as important as the image the brand created. That has been turned upside down. Want to buy a new camcorder? Go online, read some reviews. Want to buy that new Dodge Truck? Go online read what owners are saying. Hate that blender you bought? Tweet it out, write a blog, post it on Facebook...

The shift is monumental. The marketing clout wielded by companies with enormous budgets is being usurped and it's happening faster then you might think. Companies like Ford and Starbucks are investing 25% of their marketing budgets into this arena. Over a year before Ford launched it's Fiesta Movement in the US it had created a 37% awareness amongst Generation Y'ers using blogs, tweets, Facebook and YouTube. Read Gordon Macmillan's article.

In 2009 there were 321.1 million people on Facebook.