INNOVATE. MARKET. OR….?

A couple weeks ago in San Francisco, I heard more information about mobile and Internet marketing, as well as social networking. It was more than my 64KB mind could absorb! And it wasn’t redundant at all. There is so much happening today and retailers and marketers are moving much more quickly now to take advantage of the tremendous growth being experience both by the customers and by the companies staying ahead of the game.

There was a great deal of revelation for me as I listened intently and then cast my evaluation of the speaker immediately via text message on my iPhone. Only thing that was challenging was spelling the presenter’s name correctly. Some fascinating information on how fast it’s growing. For example, the iPhone I have has more power than a seven year old Mac computer. So we have PC’s in our pockets, not cell phones or cameras. On average today in the US, over 400 text messages per person are being sent from one pocket PC to another. We have surpassed the rest of the world, which we were trailing significantly just a couple years ago. It took 2 years for iTunes to download 300 million apps. They hit the 3 billion level only 3 months after hitting the 2 Billion mark.

I could go on, but I think you get the point that this revolution in communication and marketing is moving faster than anything we’ve ever seen and it’s only going to accelerate as iPads and Kindles become commonplace. Yes, Peter Drucker was right about the importance of innovation several decades ago, but he is prophetic today.

The companies making all this technology work for them are the ones who are innovating with the way they reach their customers in their new mobile lifestyle. But let’s not forget the other key element…marketing. As I said in an online interview (link to it) a few months ago, if we get so caught up in keeping up with the technology that we forget to get back to the basic principles of effective marketing and branding, then we aren’t going to win. The most important thing is to remember that we are still talking (however, digitally we do it) to real people who still want to see, feel and touch the merchandise or experience the store after they do all their homework on their pocket PC. We can’t leave traditional media out of the equation either. Apple didn’t get to their skyrocketing numbers by just communicating online. It’s traditional media campaigns (with not-so-traditional messages) that have set the pace for creativity and break through marketing. Microsoft does some of the best print and broadcast as well. However, it’s the branding and the marketing strategy behind those messages that makes it all work. Best Buy understands that it’s got to market as aggressively today using both traditional and new media—but it’s making them work together to reach today’s savvy customer.

Macy’s is doing a lot to step up its online activity, yet it’s being out performed by Stage Stores (link) who has made a major commitment recently to technology to support their 758 stores in 39 states. Stage maintains their brand positioning that made the original stores the preference of the local markets they serve. With a 4th Quarter increase in net income of nearly 10%, Stage has taken it’s flagship store brands and made them even stronger within their markets. They’ve used technology to work smarter and traditional marketing to keep close to their established customers.

There continues to be a lot of news out there and the potential marketing benefits of the FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube et all, are yet to be seen despite their unbelievable growth. However, while trying to stay on top of new technology and capabilities, it’s critical to also keep on challenging your organization to innovate with new ideas that will excite customers. We need to market them more effectively to keep the customers coming back after they press the power button on all those pocket pc’s.

DON'T MISS THIS YEAR'S GLOBAL RETAIL MARKETING SUMMIT IN ST. PETERSBURG, FL, AT THE DON CE SAR HOTEL ON APRIL 22-24. ROB CONWAY, THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON IN TELECOM, WILL PRESENT AS WILL AUTHOR RAY KURZWEIL AS PART OF PROGRAM THAT WILL HELP YOU BECOME BETTER INNOVATORS AND MARKETERS. GO TO http://www.globalretailmarketing.com