Interactive Marketing

Interactive Marketing refers to the evolving trend in marketing whereby marketing has moved from a transaction-based effort to a conversation. The definition of interactive marketing comes from John Deighton at Harvard, who says interactive marketing is the ability to address the customer, remember what the customer says and address the customer again in a way that illustrates that we remember what the customer has told us (Deighton 1996).
Interactive marketing is not synonymous with online marketing, although interactive marketing processes are facilitated by internet technology. The ability to remember what the customer has said is made easier when we can collect customer information online and we can communicate with our customer more easily using the speed of the internet. Amazon.com is an excellent example of the use of interactive marketing, as customers record their preferences and are shown book selections that match not only their preferences but recent purchases.
Many moons ago, someone asked me what the difference between advertising and marketing is. I replied with the metaphor of fishing, applying that advertising is the event or medium, but marketing was the strategy. With regard to fishing, I can grab a pole and hit a lake today and see what I catch. That’s advertising… waving a worm and seeing who bites. Marketing, on the other hand, is the professional fisherman who researches the fish, the bait, the temperature, the weather, the season, the water, the depth, etc. By charting and analyzing, this fisherman is able to catch bigger and more fish by constructing a strategy.
Advertising is still part of that strategy, it’s just a discreet event or medium within it.
In years gone by, both advertising and marketing were largely unidirectional. The marketing or advertising department told us what to think and they didn’t care what our reaction was. They controlled the message, the medium, the product and the price. Our only ‘voice’ was whether or not we purchased the product or service.
IMHO, Interactive Marketing is the evolution of marketing where the consumer is empowered, entrusted, and recruited to aid in the strategy. Imagine if we had a chance to talk to the fish and see what bait they like and when they’d like to eat. Perhaps we’d throw some good stuff out on the pond so that they would entice their friends to come feed with them next time. (Most of us don’t want to gut and fillet our customers – but you get the point.)
No longer do we have absolute control over our message or brand. We share that control with the consumer. That consumer, albeit a happy customer or an angry one, is going to utilize tools such as the Internet to tell his/her friends about their experience with your product or service. As marketers, we need to ensure we can be part of that conversation and feed their attitudes and ideas back to our companies.
Perhaps a closer analogy would be the employee review of yesteryear and the 360 degree reviews of today. At one point in our careers, we would quietly wait to receive our review. The review would rank us and provide goals, compliments and criticisms that we’d be held accountable to until our next review. The 360 review is much different… the goals, compliments and criticisms are discussed and written from both sides of the table. The employee’s advancement and success is defined with the mentoring and leadership of the manager or supervisor – but not simply defined by him/her.
Companies have found 360 reviews to be incredibly advantageous because it assists the manager become a better leader as well as provide them with insight to personally work with that employee. (No two employees are alike – much like no two customers are!). Interactive marketing is no different. By building strategies that include our customers’ voice and leverage it, we can improve our marketing reach considerably.
Where I stumble on Interactive Marketing is that there’s somehow a ‘point in time’ that it became viable. I believe that Interactive Marketing has been used considerably well throughout many mediums for quite some time. I personally don’t believe it was an Internet phenomenon. How is a direct mail survey any different than an email survey? If the company utilized that data that was received to better serve its customers or attract new ones, I believe that’s as Interactive as an online social network.

Kevin Makice
Interactive Marketing is the dialogue between consumers and producers conducted in a way to benefit both groups.
In more traditional business models, marketing is situated between the two with the goal of matching available products with consumer desires. That process starts with the product as the constraint (as in, “You must sell this.”) and ends when a correct target demographic has been located.
Interactive marketing serves as advocate for both consumers and producers, shaping both to find an optimal business relationship. The constraint is no longer the product but rather the depth of the conversation. Discovering what different consumer groups need can generate more useful products, and those products in turn may permit a new user group to form around it.
I think interactive marketing also includes open API development by the community of users. It is not simply that potential customers are invited to speak their mind. They are also empowered to create their own



Interactive Marketing Trends
A form of trend with direct connection to individuals. Examples include cell phones, email, msn messenger etc.
The types of marketing trends and there impact on society.

Email - 84% of all people use it as a form of communicating- Not much advertisements on email because the product sells itself- Easily accessible, and convenient for everyone- Viruses and its effect on email usage- Specific features

Cell Phones - Advantages – usage in case of a emergency, convenient- Disadvantages- distract you from everyday activities, bad for your health to be on it for too long, expensive- New types of cell phones – camera phones etc.

MSN Messenger - Most teenagers use it as a form of communicating with friends- Specific features which attract the youth- Email is attached to its program

Black berry - Wireless phones, email and data experience for users who prefer a smaller handset design.- Specific features such as text messages- Organizer- Brand new technology trend for older people with needs for organization skills- ConvenientMention the "Six Truths About Interactive Marketing"• it’s a Blank Canvas• Advertising Needs to Deliver Value• Align with Lifestyles and Interests• Capitalize on Interactive Strengths• Acquire Once, Remarket as Needed• it’s all About the Brand