Fri, 02/18/2011 - 15:57 — myrnag

 

(P-O-P-S)  Are you pleasing your consumer with customerization, be it a business or John Q Public? More than ever, it is imperative that you find out who that customer is to engage him in a conversation that will make him “like” you. With real time platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn available to find out what he thinks of your service, you are going to be forgotten if you do not find out what he is looking for in your product or service category. 
The recent downturn in the economy gave consumers the ultimate leg up. And with their ever-increasing ability to talk to each other and express their opinions to companies with blogs, Twitter and Facebook business pages, they can make or break you with their opinions.   Those companies that take what their consumer shares with them and does something about problems expressed, are more likely to be in business in five years down the road with healthy bottom lines. But given so much choice in the marketplace, it’s likely that customers can choose to use products and services of brands that go out of their way to please them with ‘ customerization,’ my newest term for what appears to be happening in the marketplace, says Myrna Greenhut, Points of Persuasion Syndicate president.
“Often times, their websites, articles marketing and even special events are geared towards the likes of their customers, with less than blatant attribution to the sponsoring company. Thursday’s TIMES DIGEST outlined how a hipster media company named Vice creates sites filled with images, videos and text that evoke a cool-kid image that companies like Intel and Dell wish to connect with although not necessarily through specific products.  ‘Creating Content That Connects With Hip Crowd’ further states “In 2009, companies spent $47.2 billion on custom marketing, according to a survey conducted by the Custom council, an industry group in New York, and Content Wise, a newsletter.” And the practice extends to producing mega events in cities around the world that include concert, art exhibit, conference and many parties with free drinks and subdued corporate logos.
Tailoring your syndicated articles marketing to these types of events and taste picks is a small concession to make to keep your consumer top-of-mind. In days of old, companies paid focus groups to test their response against product claims. They spent large bucks on delivering advertising messages. Now they have real-time input based on what their customer tells them they like or do not like. They spend less on advertising budgets and way more on wining and dining their customer, whom they know more about than ever before. 
When the mommy bloggers are in NYC this weekend, all 2,000 thousand plus strong at a sold-out event where tickets are being scalped by would-be attendees for more than the original price, they will be treated by fashion houses and celebrity talk show hosts to Broadway tickets , drinks, parties and  interface with celebrity guests because they are consumers with opinions who express their opinions. And some of these bloggers have bigger audiences than their professional journalist peers in their category. So the event in its fourth year is growing in attendance, even during the hottest months weather-wise in Manhattan. That is a good example of customerization in action.

Add in a special cause like the art auction to benefit the Gulf this year or a similar effort on behalf of Haiti last year, and we see why this blogger conference continues to grow and ensure its annual occurrence.