Only a few years ago, most of us believed our professional and corporate worlds were here to stay; institutions were permanent and immutable.
Back then a few overachievers could gain market traction by introducing revised versions of last year’s applications as “new paradigms,” or by promoting their disruptive technology. But our safety nets and systems were so securely in place, marketers could focus on traditional niches, and keep tweaking their tested techniques.
The good old days.
Today’s successful entrepreneurs go to sleep with iPads on their stomachs. Restaurant chains extend their digital glad-hands straight into our pockets. Each of us is a solo market niche, living in a permanent state of self-education and preparing ourselves to become tomorrow’s persona.
Yet most companies continue trying to guide consumer crowds into their dusty corrals. That’s because it’s easier to market to ghosts and fond memories than to moving targets like you and me.
New studies [1] conclude that technology promotes fractured thinking and lack of focus [2]. A generation of chronic multitaskers, experts tell us, loves to lap up “irrelevant” information even when we’re offline.
It’s time to wake up and hear the mouse clicks. Ghosts and memories can’t be pushed or pulled; only laid to rest. Marketers should appeal instead to what won’t be changing for many years: our ages-old need for companionship and validation, tribal values and cooperative effort. Touching us where we’re unique is the one way to spur us into action–even those of us who still reminisce about how the world was, way back in 2007.
Live with it. [3]