The problem with marketing to day is that professionalism sticks unimaginatively to its own (very often-inaccurate) timid orthodoxy! Which is, by and large, arid, vapid and very very passionless, narrowly focussed and self involved.

The result? Well, simply put... its costing us all a lot of money!

And, if the truth be known, if the truth were allowed to emerge...it needn't be that way at all.

The ignorance of it all is hidden by arrogance, and most advertising, marketing and media types these days are so arrogant that they cannot accept better ideas, a position best described as the "not invented here" syndrome.

Thankfully there is a way out of this, it's know as Interactive Marketing Communication, a profoundly more genuine and effective form of communication, also know as engaged participation. Independent research has established that one exposure to an interactive "Event" will buy you much more than a £50 million advertising campaign. Much, much more!

Without such interaction taking place your best marketing efforts to create competitive products and services will take place, as they have been in the past, in a vacuum.

Your interactive "Events" will allow you to create genuine relationships, in fact it will give you everything you have always wanted, bigger market share, customer loyalty, brand loyalty, together with valuable honest and reliable feedback.

To day, a time when we have to be honest, marketing is manipulative intrusive, gimmick ridden and fundamentally dishonest and it has to end right now!
Because your customers know they are being manipulated, they know your being dishonest and that does no good for your business.
They are not being fooled one iota!
Now your adverting agencies are trying to lure you onto the Internet, as if it is the answer to all your (marketing) prayers, be warned it isn't. The respected advertising man Della Femina says "We're going to have to be clever and figure out different ways to reach people. But we're not going to reach them through advertising on the internet."
The age of customer participation is here. Relevancy will be the watchword for brands, and we will have to develop engaging ad formats that cater for a more demanding audience. Advertising has to be invitational rather than interruptive.
Hence interactive marketing communication.
So don't you think that you ought to start a regular dialogue with him or
her, as the case may be?
The word empowerment is a very overused word. However in the near future the primary strategic marketing communications battle will be to see who goes furthest in empowering their customers.
1.To empower your customers you will have to:
2. Provide them with far more information than you currently do.
3, Allow them to make decisions about you and your company together with your resources.
4. Give them plenty of choice.
5. Give them the perception of control!
6. Allow them to feel that they are running your organisation!
Because anything that tightens your relationships with an existing customer increases the revenue you get from your customer.
And the only form of communication that can do all the above so that you do tighten your grip on your customer is.... Interactive communication!
Because interactive communication allows you to have an ongoing debate with your customers and your prospects, make regular interactive conversations available where they can debate not only about your products and services but the very soul of your company. Because that will be much more powerful than just putting your advertisement on television (or wherever) or I'm going to sell my goods in Tesco (or wherever).

Then, when you get asked, "Who's running your business?" you can honestly reply, "My customers through genuine interactive programmes!" and earn major brownie points!