Seth Godin and his impact on modern marketing practices - Research Paper Example

? Seth Godin and his impact on modern marketing practices The development of business activities worldwide has resulted to the increase of the need for establishing appropriate mechanisms of control – referring to the monitoring of these activities in order to check their alignment with the relevant ethical rules. At the same time, it has been made clear that the traditional organizational policies need to be transformed in order to meet the demands of the market and the continuous changing customer preferences. Marketing has played a crucial role in aligning business policies with market trends and demands; however, existing marketing schemes have been proved inadequate in regard to the market’s needs – as described above. The update of marketing theories can be characterized as an expected consequence of the increasing failures of firms to align their strategies with the customers’ preferences. Seth Godin has played a key role in the restructuring of marketing theory; the permission-marketing concept that the above researcher developed has supported, along with other theories of Godin, the increase of effectiveness of marketing schemes used in firms of different characteristics. The contribution of Godin in modern marketing is analyzed in this paper; emphasis is given on the key elements of his theories; at the same time, explanations are provided regarding his views on marketing, as these views are presented through appropriate literature. The books of Godin, especially the one entitled as ‘Permission Marketing’ and that entitled, as ‘All Marketers are Liars’ have been used in businesses worldwide for the development of effective marketing policies. These books reflect the views of Godin on contemporary marketing; this view could be summarized as follows: modern marketing is not just a business tool but rather a means of communication; its involvement in the promotion of products/ services worldwide should be carefully reviewed ensuring that customers are not treated as potential sources of profit but rather as stakeholders, who should be also benefited from the product/ service they purchase. The views of Godin on marketing are above the traditional thoughts on selling/purchasing, as common activities in markets worldwide. In fact, Godin has introduced the concept that marketing can play two key roles – in addition to its existing functions worldwide. It is explained that marketing can be used in order to sell products/ services to people of quite low income – reference is made to the markets of the emerging countries where the average level of income is quite low, compared to the developed countries (Fawkes 2010). It is further emphasized that the exclusive use of marketing in developed countries cannot be considered as acceptable leading to the promotion of social exclusion and discrimination. Instead, marketing should be also used in emerging economies for promoting products that are aligned with local needs. Another characteristic of the views of Godin on marketing is the following one: Godin believes that marketing is not just a business activity; rather it is a framework that can ‘change the world’ (Fawkes 2010). This target is achieved, in accordance with Godin, in the following way: by improving the quality of products sold, entrepreneurs increase their chances for success; if the products offered in the market are of good quality, consumers are more likely to buy them developing a trend based on the increase of quality/demand, as a characteristic of modern market. The existing practice of low price/ low quality products would be then eliminated changing market values and trends. At the next level, Godin supports that the individual who wishes to develop his career in marketing should start working on the specific field independently; then, he can try to enter a firm that operates in the particular sector; as Godin states ‘if you get great at it, you’ll discover jobs find you’ (Sakas 2010). Also, Godin considers marketing as a responsibility, and not as a right (Sakas 2010); from this point of view, marketers are responsible for the impact of their messages on the target market (Sakas 2010). It is in this context that the views of Godin in contemporary marketing would be evaluated. On the other hand, Bernoff (2010) notes that a key contribution of Godin in marketing is related to his view on the position of workers; it is explained that Godin has suggested to employees a unique way to keep their job:’ not just to do what are they told to do but to become indispensable’ (Bernoff 2010). During an interview to T. Anderson in 2009, Godin revealed that the success of his work on marketing is the result of continuous study and research. When being asked for his view on down economies, as areas where marketing would have prospects, Godin replied that in these economies, the prospects for marketing are quite limited (Anderson 2009). In fact, in accordance with Godin the particular economies should be first re-structured, eliminating existing dependencies and updating the rules of their market. Only in this context, marketing could play a role in the development of these economies (Anderson 2009). The above views of Anderson are of particular value taking into consideration the deterioration of economies worldwide under the influence of the recession. By following the suggestions of Godin, economies, which have been significantly affected by the global crisis, could revive – even if the relevant process would require an important amount of time. The most important contribution of Godin in marketing is related to his suggestions for the improvement of the performance of the content marketing, a traditional marketing concept, using the principles of the permission marketing, a concept introduced by Godin. In the above context, Godin suggests to marketers to change their current strategies introducing new methods for approaching their customers. As Godin notes, marketers should ‘stop interrupting their prospects with irrelevant messaging and provide them with information that is genuinely relevant to them either personally or professionally’ (Content Marketing Today 2008). In other words, the priority of marketing campaigns should be the quality of messages sent (in terms of their alignment with the customers’ needs) and not the quantity. In accordance with the above view, the traditional practice of sending a high volume of newsletters or e-mails in order to promote a particular product should be replaced by a different policy, which would focus on highlighting the value of the specific product for covering the customer’s particular needs. In this way of course the time required for the completion of a marketing project would be increased. However, this problem would be resolved by using appropriate methods of market segmentation; in this way, the target market would be appropriately partitioned and the chances for the success of marketing messages (which would be differentiated along the various parts of the market) would be increased. Apart from the content of marketing message, as criterion for the increase of its potential success, the methods used for the promotion of a marketing message are also important for its effectiveness. Godin (2010) refers to the above issue highlighting the importance of getting permission for using e-mail as a tool for marketing. He explains that despite the expansion of spam as a marketing tool, its value can be strongly criticized. The above view is based on the following fact: spam can be used extensively for the promotion of a marketing message; however, in the long term the value of spam tends to be continuously decreased leading to the decrease of the value of the brand promoted through the specific marketing tool. The above justification is based on the rule that after its initial success, a marketing message, which is promoted, to the customers’ e-mail without their permission will be negatively criticized. On the contrary, those marketing messages that are promoted through e-mail based on permission, have more chances to be successful – especially in the long term – and ‘lead to the establishment of powerful brands’ (Godin, in Zeigler 2010). The views of Godin on e-mail marketing can be used along with his views on Content marketing in order to develop quite successful marketing mechanisms. It should be noted however, that the market conditions and the resources should be taken into consideration before applying the suggested marketing policies in practice. Rachelle Money managed to take an interview from Seth Godin in 2008; in the above interview, Godin reveals that, when writing the Permission Marketing, he could not imagine the success this book would have worldwide. Instead, he thought that the book ‘was going to reach some people’ (Money 2008) but up to there. When asked whether he had ever reached a point to think that one or more of his views could be possibly updated or improved, Godin states that there are times that he reads books quoting his ideas which Godin does not recognize immediately, a potential indication of his daily volume of work – study and teaching/ mentoring. In the above interview, emphasis is given on the role of Godin in introducing a series of commonly known marketing terms. When asked for this part of his work on marketing, Godin responded that he highly appreciates creativity; moreover, he makes clear that most of these terms took really a long time to be developed (Money 2008). Another aspect of the approaches that Godin uses in marketing is revealed through his view on inspiration and work: Godin makes clear that he can work effectively both when relaxed and under pressure. In fact, it seems that in the second case, his inspiration for work is increased; as Godin notes, when having to deal with a specific marketing problem he is likely to search for the reasons that led to the failure; this search helps to improve existing concepts or identify alternative ways of acting/ evaluating which were not used previously (Money 2008). Through the above interview, the following issue has been also revealed: Godin has been involved in business activities since his childhood; he reveals that through the years his willingness for developing ideas was made extremely strong. At the next level, Money (2008) asked Godin for his view regarding the future of marketing; Godin responded that newspapers, through the classified ads, are important tools of marketing – because of the limited cost involved (Money 2008); however, he notes that because of the rapid development of the Internet, newspaper as a marketing tool will become useless; online ads will going to replace the classified ads responding more effectively to the needs of consumers for quick access to ads of a particular category (Money 2008). To the question of Rachelle Money how his involvement in marketing is explained, Godin refers to one of his key characteristics: he ‘enjoys watching his ideas spread’ (Money 2008). It is perhaps in this context that Godin has tried, successfully, to develop terms that represent key marketing functions and characteristics. Through the issues highlighted above it is made clear that the success of Godin in the area of marketing can be considered as resulted because of the interaction of many different factors: personal views, experiences and knowledge. In accordance with the issues discussed above, the main difference between Godin and the supporters of the traditional marketing theorists are their views on the role of consumer in the success of a marketing campaign. As Godin highlighted, the success of each marketing strategy is depended on its ability to address the needs of consumer – a fact that should be made clear to the customer, not just hypothesized. The success of Godin in the particular field is related with a series of facts: a) the level of his knowledge on marketing – Godin holds a Stanford MBA, b) his long term experience in marketing – referring to his work as ‘a marketing director of Whole Food Market and vice-president of the direct marketing department in Yahoo’ (Business Week 2008), c) his innovative ideas on marketing, as explained above, which have introduced the following trend: marketing campaigns are aligned with the preferences of customers and not with the need of businesses for improving their performance. Moreover, Godin has helped towards the improvement of existing marketing concepts; indeed, the views of Godin, as reflected in his Permission Marketing concept, has been the basis for the update of common marketing policies, like the e-mail marketing and the content marketing, in the context described above. Works Cited Tom Anderson “Seth Godin talks to Tom H. C. Anderson about Marketing…” 16 January 2009 Next Gen Market Research 14 April 2011 Josh Bernoff “In Praise of Seth Godin's 'Linchpin' - Marketing Guru's Latest Touts the Need to Be Indispensable.” 28 January 2010. AdAge Digital. 14 April 2011 Piers Fawkes “Seth Godin: Marketing To The Bottom Of The Pyramid.” 16 September 2010. PSFK. 14 April 2011 “Seth Godin: Profile of a Marketing Guru.” 24 September 2008. Business Week. 14 April 2011 “Seth Godin: "Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left" and 10 New Marketing Lessons.” 14 January 2008. Content Marketing Today. 14 April 2011 Rachelle Money “Figuring out the words: The Seth Godin interview.” 12 February 2008. Wordtracker. 14 April 2011 Karl Sakas “Seth Godin marketing interview: 3 questions he’s never been asked before.” 14 July 2010 Frontline Results. 14 April 2011 < http://karlsakas.com/seth-godin-marketing-interview/> Todd Zeigler “Seth Godin on Email Marketing.” February 2, 2010 The Bivings Report. 14 April 2011 Read More