Creating Loyal Brands : Themes Of The Week...

So much content, so little time...

A weekly round-up of the themes and posts I found particularly interesting or useful.

Change took center-stage again this week, with conversations exploring the future of advertising, and the new roles and skills required for marketers, as well as offering advice to small businesses on new marketing practices.

Stop selling, start helping...
In a world that's media-saturated and increasingly transparent, several posts explored how the traditional advertising model based on interruption and selling things needs to change.

The Future of Advertising in 2020 argued that the traditional one-way street model of advertising needs to give way to one focused on building relationships with customers, and communicating the brand's vision.
Invest in Your Customers More Than Your Brand showed how in a digital world "advertising" is increasingly replaced by "advice" and "aducation", focused on helping customers make smarter and more confident decisions.
Advertising's New Medium: Human Experience argued that marketers need to focus on how their advertising can add value to consumers' lives.
While The Key To Creating Value For Customers reminded us that brands only earn their right to exist, by providing something that customers find useful.

Marketers' new clothes...
As marketing shifts from a mass-market model, to one centered on customer experience, several posts addressed the changing roles and skills that marketers need.

From Marketing Communications to Experience Engineering: The New Role for CMOs in the Digital Era explored how Marketing needs to play a critical integration role across channels and business units, powered by analytics and technology.
Three Must-Do's For The Modern Marketer argued that to play a strategic integration role, marketers need to embrace analytical as well as traditional marketing skills, measure outcomes rather than activities, and live and breathe (rather than just track) the customer experience.
The two emerging media-relations skills every PR pro needs highlighted inbound and real-time media relations as skills critical to generating publicity in today's media environment.
While Solving the CEO Social Media Riddle urged C-suite executives to get involved and take control of their own social media image, to enhance positive customer experiences across social media channels.

Small can be beautiful...
While the changing nature of marketing can feel to be about big brands, several posts showed how it's relevant to businesses large and small.

Learning Social Media Tricks From the Big Boys explored how any business can use social media to establish a local connection.
Create Your Own Active Online Community offered some great tips on how to establish a community as a resource, that will generate leads and sales well into the future.
A Revolutionary Marketing Strategy: Answer Customers' Questions told the inspiring story of how one small business owner saved his company by focusing on generating sales through blog posts and videos, which simply answered customers' questions about his industry.
While The New Rules for Marketing neatly summed up the change in approach that's needed for any size of business.

Finally, if the connected world can at times feel overwhelming, How to Be Mindful in an 'Unmanageable' World offered some much-needed advice.

Have a good weekend...