We assume that a particular product or service could potentially strike a chord with a particular audience based on information gathered from a small sampling of both qualitative and quantitative data and make some educated guesses. We work to build a compelling emotional connection to this product or service better known as its “brand” and develop practices to secure the level of performance to be expected. This seemed to be working for a while when we were in the driver’s seat of the positioning and advertising initiatives directed at this potential market.

Enter a new era of hyper-competition
More ads, more positioning, more info than anyone in our “market” can handle. The resulting end of which now includes distrust of marketers, media and filtering of our expensive advertising. Yet grassroots movements from phenomena, like hip hop, rise to mainstream consciousness, while the Internet with Google, Tivo, social networking and now personal mobile communication affords the previously anonymous target market a voice and a new kind choice. These pioneers and others like them are challenging the very idea of communication from the few to the many to soon be a thing of the past. Consumers stop fitting into the marketers’ profiles of them, and seriously challenge the concept of demographic based marketing as we’d known it.

Marketing is obviously shifting from a paradigm of dictation to dialogue, and bringing with it some unsettling changes, perplexing most marketers today.

Previously assumed realities such as brand loyalty seem to be fleeting. Today, the lifecycle of a brand moving from performance-driven, to price-driven is faster than ever. Emerging brands have little choice but to plan for shorter-term life spans, because it seems that the consumer will quickly be bored, distracted or looking for the next “cool” brand for the fear of missing out.

Let’s face it, brand marketing just isn’t what it used to be, and chances are that it’s not ever going to be the same again. As marketers, we can continue to engage in discussions to define and redefine what a brand means, debate whether it is a promise or an expectation of performance and observe the influences of globalization, cultural obstacles, and other factors indefinitely. We can come up with temporary solutions to remedy each one of these developments, refocus our energies to best adapt to them strategically, and still find ourselves rethinking and retooling our plans to serve an ever-demanding consumer mind set. So what’s a brand marketer to do? I believe that we are looking in the wrong place.

We’re still moving in directions such as “behavioral targeting”, and “contextual advertising” with the assumption that we have the last word on what our market wants or needs. Instead, we need to realize that “marketers” are no longer in charge. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but the realization of it can be more than liberating, it just may offer the insight to develop the sustainable brands of the future. Look at it this way; today’s consumer has the choice of personal relevance previously unmatched. They are in the position to sway everything from political topics to fashion to the value of the next version 2.0 upgrade. In our ambition to capture their wallets, we’ve given them the choice and the tools to distrust, discredit and dismantle any attempt at their attention that is not genuinely in their best interest. We’re starting to find out what they want, when they want it, and what they are willing to pay for it.

Recently Jupiter Research reported that spending on online advertising in the United States is to grow to $14 billion by 2007—outpacing the growth of TV, print, and radio. Why such a prediction? Perhaps it’s because online advertising represents the closest thing we have today to measure real consumer demand. Soon, it seems that we will reach a place of real-time demand responsiveness with consumers. In such a scenario, what would be the wisest role for brands to play? I propose that role is of an enabler who advances dialogue between the brand and its audience.

Advancing dialogue means empowering understanding for both parties involved. For consumers within this context it means the ability to affect their own choices, and for brands it means the ability to know and deliver those choices.

All of us to date have grown up in a world where brands were built on assumptions because instant feedback and interactive communication was just not a reality. Great brands tried to understand the subtle nuances of human motivation from the likes of behaviorists such as Abraham Maslow, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner, because it’s all they could do to guess what their customers would connect to. But now it seems that we have the tools to change all of that, right? Even if we don’t at this very moment, technology is at such a place that it is only a small innovation away. We have companies like Tacoda Systems, Revenue Science, and more with the ability to measure our consumer’s every move, and even claim to protect their privacy. So shouldn’t that mean we should approach brand development differently? Perhaps; but is being able to measure consumer responsiveness enough to discard the tried and true principles of branding as we knew it? Here are some observations to consider:

Measuring action is not a clear indicator of intent
For example, if a consumer consistently seeks info on SUVs for say a period of two months, then does that mean she’s a SUV enthusiast? If you just measure the data of her interactions, it would appear so, right? However, if you consider the root of her motivation, then it might be something completely different. Suppose she’s an environmentalist, and she’s researching SUVs to show negative data on emission levels. Or how about someone who is doing this research on SUVs, because she’s trying to convince her husband not to get one? Clearly the intent is unclear from just measuring the action.

Consumers don’t always know what they want
Just because demand data can be measured, does that mean the popular choice is always the winner? Wouldn’t that negate just about every innovation we’ve come to know and enjoy?

To put it in a modern context, think of the runaway success of today’s reality shows. Could there really have been any prior market specific data to indicate that this format would work? So why are we now studying the marketing model of Fox’s American Idol? It seems that reality TV producers “sensed” a potential and went for it. Some classic examples in the past have been the design of the Corvette that failed the analyst’s prediction of a flop, or Fred Smith of FedEx being discouraged from trying his crazy delivery service. What would have happened to all such ideas if we only reacted to user data and made “safe” bets on what would succeed in the marketplace?

You can’t anticipate authentic reactions by prior success
There are so many factors that play into why something is successful in the marketplace. Motivation, media and peer influence, the economic climate, the availability of alternate choices, and so much more determine the outcome. The ability to just measure actions does not indicate real demand for anything. Consider the way the movie industry produces successful blockbusters. Do they invest behind a story they believe in, or create movies based solely on previous indicators of ROI? Given what we’ve seen from products of passion and dedication such as the Lord of The Rings trilogy versus one too many bad sequels driven by ROI greed, I think the answer is quite clear. The underlying factor here is again motivation behind consumer action, to date that can’t really be measured… That is until we can manage to advance true dialogue.

Some things can never change
As long as we are participants in the human experience, it is hardly debatable that we will always seek security, love, belonging, independence, self-actualization, and other goals that inherently make us human. The fundamentals of the human psyche are not going to change anytime soon, and thus branding to a marketplace of other humans are not going to be based on any new principles. The methods of marketing that brand; however, should and must vary, because now we’re entering a new level of understanding afforded us by advanced means of communication. It’s not unlike the evolution of a relationship from casual dating to a well-formed marriage. The levels of communication must change, but the rules of interaction cannot be anything but immutable.

So what does this all mean for the future of brands? I don’t claim to have all the answers, but given the current options available, I can offer some personal insight. Unless human nature itself is about to change, I don’t think the principles of well-developed brands will be much affected. In terms of brand marketing, however, real-time demand responsiveness will definitely come with new responsibilities for marketers. The most obvious is one is that brand marketing will be about advancing dialogue between brand and audience, and NOT about any form of persuasion based on deception or manipulation. To manage such a challenge effectively, consider the following:

1. Pay real attention: Don’t just measure market response data, understand the relevance of what that data could actually mean. Don’t assume a profile by your users’ actions; instead think of possible scenarios of what their motivations might be. Measure that against time, place and circumstance, and focus on better ways of listening before you think you’ve got your customer figured out.

2. Be yourself: People only connect to ideas that they believe are real. You can’t fake being real. To try to second-guess what your consumers are looking for is just that, guessing. With all of the behavioral targeting tools available and in development, it may be tempting to try being what you think the customer wants you to be, but it just won’t help. This is not about deciding whether or not your brand is based on who you are either comfortable being, or who you must be to best serve your customer. It’s obviously the latter, because you wouldn’t exist but for that reason. This is about connecting to your customer by being truly sincere. As we all know, insincerity comes across loud and clear and loses not only that particular member of your audience, but every single person they influence; and that is appealing to no one.

3. Let your audience position you rather than the other way around: The days of securing a “position in the mind” are over. Even if the consumer is not savvy enough to get the manipulation, they see too much of it out there to take it seriously. The real performance relative to their expectations and the “influential” word-of-mouth determine the true worth of the brand, not any marketing message, visual or tagline. Those things just serve as minor cultural amusements that last as long as the next fad. They might generate awareness, but ask yourself what kind, and at what cost? The best bet is to let consumers position you themselves. The process that makes it easier for the consumer to do, is what we marketers should concentrate on, not how we should package it….

4. Work from the customer’s perspective out: Who exactly is it that you’re serving? To serve this person better than others what are the core principles of your business? What kind of strategies for marketing supports these core principles? What tactics maximize the effectiveness of these broader strategies? How can I employ them to best serve my customer? The point is to build your brand marketing strategy around the needs of your customer first; everything else will naturally follow.

5. Listen and advance every opportunity at dialogue: Collecting data and hypothesizing about the meaning of such data is still guesswork, albeit a more refined version of it. The same technology that is used to figure out consumer’s behaviors can be much better utilized by allowing them to choose time and place of their dialogue with brands. For example, instead of following your potential customer around as he browses the Internet to push ads you think he needs, try to find ways of presenting ubiquitous options where he can engage in dialogue with you for exactly what he’s seeking at that point in time. By making dialogue more accessible, relevant and more frequent, you now have the means to better serve your customer and also your bottom line.

These are but a few recommendations based on personal observations. But one day soon people like you and I will know exactly what the consumer wants, and when they want it. In fact I’m currently working on something to facilitate just that for mobile devices. Nevertheless, no matter how much we get to know what our audience wants, the quality of that information is ultimately dependent on how much we share and communicate back with them. Edward R. Murrow, revered as the most distinguished and renowned figure in the history of American broadcast journalism once said:

“The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it. “

For brand stewards in our increasingly demand responsive world, the most innovative technology yet will still just bring us back to basics.

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Ray Podder is an entrepreneur, brand strategist and designer with a unique focus to help companies build on ideas that their customers can connect and grow with. He can be reached at Growbrand.com