The Future of Marketing: Strategies from 15 Leading Brands on How Authenticity, Relevance, and Transparency Will Help You Survive the Age of the Customer

10. The Imperative—and Opportunity—of Conversation

“I think the era of 50-odd years ago, where marketing or advertising happened at you, is over. Now customers expect and demand a conversation.”

—Victoria Burwell, Chief Marketing Officer, McGraw-Hill Education

As we have seen throughout this book, customers want to be part of a brand; they want to be involved in its growth, what it stands for, and how it projects itself. That observation is a fundamental driver of the A (authenticity), R (relevance), and T (transparency) of the ART acronym.

• Authenticity—Customers want to help build a brand, and want to engage only with brands they see as authentic, real, and human.

• Relevance—Customers want to help define what a brand is, what it stands for, ...