Want to Evolve Your Marketing? Let People -- Not Products -- Lead the Way

Looking for big ideas to take your marketing

to the next level? "Marketing 3.0," by Philip

Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya and Iwan

Setiawan, proposes a fundamental evolution

to our marketing strategies. It seeks to move

our focus from product and customer models

to a human-centric model. It challenges us to

evolve from pushing products to solving real-

world socio-cultural issues, while

concurrently creating relevant value

propositions that ultimately lead to higher

profit.

To better understand the theory behind

Marketing 3.0, it helps to place it in some

context. Marketing 1.0 was developed in the

Industrial Age, a "product-centric" era

focused on mass-selling products through

functional value propositions. Marketing 2.0

was developed during the Information Age,

and it adopted emotional value propositions.

The authors of Marketing 3.0 propose that

we are now at the dawn of the "values-

driven" era, characterized by consumers who

want to satisfy functional, emotional and

spiritual needs. Marketing 3.0 seeks to

satisfy the whole person -- mind, body and

soul.

Why this evolution to human-centric value propositions? The authors point to 3 trends that are shaping the future of marketing.

Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy –April 28, 2011

The first trend is mass participation /

collaborative marketing. Social media has

tapped into natural human desires for

connectivity and interactivity. People not only

consume media, news and entertainment,

but also seek to produce its content via social

networks. This move from consumer to

"prosumer" is not simply reserved for the

individual, but also enables mass-to-mass

collaboration (think Wikipedia, Craigslist,

InnoCentive). As influencers have gained

power and status, companies should seek

collaborative marketing strategies -- co-

creation of products and services with

consumers, employees, channel partners and

other firms with similar goals and values.

The second trend is global paradox. Ease

of travel and technology advances have

created truly "global citizens" who still want

to be considered individuals. Marketing that

addresses both local and global communities

will succeed. For example, marketers should

seek to create micro-communities that serve

the interest of its members.

The third trend is the rise of a creative

society and human-spirit marketing. The

authors suggest that the influence and status

of creative people -- who generally tend to

innovate, collaborate and express themselves

more than others -- is on the rise because the

creative class pursue self-actualization and

place the same demands on the products and

services they consume. Marketers wishing to

capitalize on this trend should focus on

communicating credibility and supplying

meaning to its consumers.

So how does a marketer function in

Marketing 3.0? Borrowing from Ries and

Trout, the authors suggest that Marketing

3.0 should be redefined as a triangle of

brand, positioning and differentiation, but

then build on this formula by introducing

their own "3I" model, which they feel

completes the connections in the Ries/Trout

model.

In the Marketing 3.0 model, the three I's

stand for identity, image and integrity:

Identity is the relationship between

positioning and brand and seeks to address

the rational portion of the value proposition.

In Marketing 3.0, the key here is how you

address the mind, the consumer's rational

thoughts about the brand.

Image lies at the juncture of differentiation

and brand and strives to capture the

emotions of the target audience. The key

Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy –April 28, 2011

here is how you address the consumer's heart

– what they feel about the brand, themselves,

the category.

Integrity is the intersection of positioning

and differentiation, and it aims to

authentically fulfill the brand promise and

foster trust. This is the "newest" of the three

I's and speaks to such issues as authenticity

and soul – of the consumer and the product.

At first glance Marketing 3.0 appears overly

ambitious. The idea of addressing the whole

person -- and doing so on a global scale -- is

difficult to grasp from a segmentation

perspective. However, the book provides

strong evidence and references to human-

centric marketing currently under way. And I

can personally vouch for the practicality of

their thesis as I find myself attempting to

solve both human and global concerns via our

strategic alignment and collaboration with

key constituents.

My only criticism of the book is the 3I

model. The section is underdeveloped and its

theory is ambiguous. Had they made this

more of a how-to chapter, explaining step-by-

step how marketers could implement it, their

thinking would have been much more useful.

Marketing is evolving and the stakes are

higher. If you want to differentiate, you

cannot do so through tactics, you must

choose a different strategy. Marketing 3.0 can

raise your thinking to the next level.

About the author:

Ramiro Roman's mission is to share through his personal experience the science & art of marketing leadership. He provides practical tips and answers marketing related questions through his blog: Marketing4Marketeers. He moreover serves on the Editorial Advisory Board and is a writing contributor for PM360 – The Essential Resource for Pharma Marketers - magazine.

Beyond his passion for marketing, Ramiro devotes his life to being a better husband & father of 5.

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Published in Ad Age | CMO Strategy –April 28, 2011