Greenville Business Magazine 2010 May issue : Page 12››columns No ‘Census’ in Knocking. There’s Nobody Home BY MARTY FLYNN | PHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVER YU FOTOGRAPHIE relationships. But gone are the days when a mailbox or TV screen could ensure with a fair degree of reliability, access to household members. A resident address today is an unlikely road to a prospective customer who prefers to communicate from a cyber base camp that very often requires permission to enter. Yes, the customer has left the building through any number of portals that lead to customized online domains, that are built on shared interests, accepted friends, and individual status. Online communicators who represent a vast number of our sleep deprived nation can usually be ascribed to one of three main groups of cyber travelers: gamers, opinionators, and socializers. Players conspiring to save the world as online mythical heroes are the darlings of the video gaming industry. Those who like to share their viewpoint (usually behind the veil of anonymity) as approving or disapproving commentators, peek the interest of the news media. And those who build social networks and exchange real time information on everything ‘cool’ represent the vein of gold residing in this expansive internet mine. Opportunistic marketers are innovatively infiltrating these social sites, and customizing advertising messages around the evolving interests of these attention craving, ‘follow my every move’ screen star shoppers. Whether the chosen point of access is facilitated by W hen the 2010 census numbers have been tallied, and most of us are accounted for by gender, tribe, poverty level etc., this government sponsored mandatory survey, bow tied with a 350 million dollar promotional campaign, will provide very little insight about who really resides in the American house- hold. Ten questions in ten minutes may suffice as a national headcount, but beyond the surface of these basic questions reside millions of individuals working feverishly to be known as more than just a number in a national poll. In a consumer era that has seen our personal identities whittled down to account numbers, user codes, and order status, customers yearn to be known again, and an army of social media outlets have emerged at the appropriate time to embrace our human side, and make us feel special. Market- ers of old coveted customer information that consisted of names, addresses, and phone numbers as key tools for building 12 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | MAY 2010 Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or other communication bridge, we have truly entered an era of customized marketing. The customer is now the brand, and businesses watch attentively for shopping status cues broadcast by customers in real time, and like a good servant appear promptly to provide the service of the moment. Every word search, every coupon redemp- tion, and every website visit by a customer lays the tracks of a purchasing adventure, and also presents a golden opportunity for the now better informed retailer to meet that demand in a timely and relevant manner. The boomerang of information long tossed at the customer through traditional mediums and aggressive campaigns, has reached the end of its spiral, and now returns to the pull of the customer’s whim. The customer is busy creating her own personal virtual shopping mall, and the service provider auditions for the role of personal shopper, by being strategically positioned to meet every evolving need. Meanwhile back at the old zip code, Americans do not like unannounced visitors. Doesn’t our government know this? ■ Marty Flynn is the head of the Greenville Tech marketing department. >>columns - No ‘Census’ in Knocking. There’s Nobody HomeMarty FlynnWhen the 2010 census numbers have been tallied, and most of us are accounted for by gender, tribe, poverty level etc., this government sponsored mandatory survey, bow tied with a 350 million dollar promotional campaign, will provide very little insight about who really resides in the American household. Ten questions in ten minutes may suffice as a national headcount, but beyond the surface of these basic questions reside millions of individuals working feverishly to be known as more than just a number in a national poll. Publication List |
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