(0:59) If you read my Minutes on the ZMOT concept then you understand about how technology and the Internet have changed the way consumers make their decisions. If you missed them you can always find past Minutes on my blog:http://www.themarinaminute.com/
(0:51) Traditionally, advertising was heavily geared toward branding of products and services. There was only limited access to the customer at the moment of truth. The long lead times of paper, TV, or other past media prevented closely targeting the message. So companies relied on massive campaigns of repetition with the hope customers would remember them when making their decisions.
(0:43) It's now a whole different world. Newsweek recently printed its last paper copy making it just another of the myriad of traditional media outlets that have changed or folded.
(0:38) The most cost effective way to meaningfully reach customers today and into the future is timing your message to the moment they are making their buying decisions. Splashing your message across magazines, banner ads, and billboards hoping customers will remember you when the time arrives is no longer a wise strategy. Today it is critical to the success of any business that they be present and engaged with the information consumers need at the moment they need it. If you are not there then, you may lose out to someone who is.
(0:25) So how do you reach your potential customers when they are in the process of making their decisions? Don't sit on the sidelines or waste valuable resources. Instead, become part of the customer's experience.
(0:19) According to Kim Kadlec of Johnson & Johnson, "The traditional ad model is interrupting content, but the question now is: 'How do you become a part of the content?' How do you weave into somebody's experience in a way that's beneficial rather than detracting from that experience? That's the challenge and the opportunity."
(0:12) She's right. It's time to get off the sidelines and consider how you can make your message part of the action. It's a subtle and powerful technique. It requires getting in the middle of the content that the customer is exploring to perfectly time the delivery of your message to the moment of their discovery. Make that discovery easy and your phone will ring off the hook with new business.
(0:02) And that's the marina minute.
