Convergence Marketing: Combining Brand and Direct Marketing for Unprecedented Profits

1

WHY CONVERGENCE MARKETING ?

 

 

 

We live in a world that revolves around the individual. We celebrate self-expression at every turn, within the personalization of every product we buy. We pursue personal desires; we constantly download music, games, and films on communication devices that fit into our back pockets. And the individual controls it all. This is a far cry from the way we’ve always done it. These days, individuals decide not only how marketers and advertisers can reach them, but also if and when we can reach them at all. If they are inclined to grant us access, they choose where and how the communication takes place. The individual controls his or her relationship with the brand. The only way those of us in marketing and advertising can regain some leverage is to love the individual. We need to empathize with him or her, respect him or her. We need to gain the individual’s trust so he or she will trust the brand, which gives us what both sides want—enduring brand loyalty. The best way to achieve this is by combining the best tools from the two major marketing disciplines, brand building and direct marketing.

Convergence is the happy union of the best of brand and direct. It also includes tools from sales. All of these tools are fused to build loyalty, through a respectful and empathetic dialogue with the freethinking, experiential individual known as our customer. Convergence retains the powerful imagery and messaging of brand advertising, while leveraging the motivational ...