GETTINGINSYNC.
TRENDS IN THE CONSUMER
MARKETING LANDSCAPE
@ www.33interactions.com.au

THE ‘NEW CONSUMER’ BRAND ARCHITECTS.
WE SYNCHRONISE BRANDS WITH EMPOWERED CONSUMERS.
We achieve this by designing “just for me” brand propositions
2
and weave those propositions into the lives of consumers in
fresh and creative ways, to develop lasting customer
relationships and advocacy.
Jeeva Sathurayar | Joel Maloney
612 9993 0450 | info@33i.com.au
@ www.33interactions.com.au

AGENDA.
» Introduction ± Trends
1. Desire for greater control in our
» About this Briefing lives and over our interactions.
2. Search for meaning and authen-
» Getting in Sync ticity.
I
3. Trust in a person like yourself.
» The Fine Print 4. Experience matters.
5. Participation as consumption.
6. Web 2.0 is mainstream
7. Social patterns enforced through
digital tools.
8. Immersion of technology into
our daily lives.
9. The Connected Customer.
10. Non-linear purchase funnel.

IF MARKETING METHODS HAVE NOT EVOLVED IN CONCERT
WITH TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION, ARE WE
OUT OF SYNC WITH CUSTOMERS?
The short answer — YES! Consumers are adopting new technolo- Traditional marketing is not working: 95% of consumer
gies such as social networking, podcasts, blogs, RSS, commenting, product introductions fail to reach ROI targets; 84% of
rating, widgets, mobile, and apps faster than we can keep up. B2B marketing campaigns result in falling sales; 85% of
Breakfast TV covers Twitter before most marketers have figured sales promotions are unprofitable; and 72% of TV adver-
out how or if they should use it. tising campaigns fail to achieve positive ROI. Today’s
II consumer is technically adept, open for experimentation
Search engines have taken centre stage in purchase decision
and — most importantly — more active than ever before.
making and online social usage has altered the consumer
Traditional communications, based on classical condi-
marketing landscape. Brands offering people something, compete
tioning and clever ways to dispose of products, does not
with everything a few clicks away.
address connected, savvy, and empowered consumers.
The “Internet is a nearly perfect market because information is
For brands to remain relevant, they must adapt to
instantaneous and buyers can compare the offerings of sellers
both emerging technologies and shifting consumer
worldwide. The result is fierce price competition, dwindling
behaviour, and create genuine customer value — brands
product differentiation, and vanishing brand loyalty.” Robert
need to get in sync with new consumers.
Kuttner, BusinessWeek, 11 May 1998
Customers can find what they want, critique brands that don’t
deliver, and connect with peers to spread criticism across the
globe instantly.

ABOUT THIS BRIEFING.
This briefing is a ‘synopsis’ of a body of work undertaken by over 30 individuals from 12 countries, spanning five conti‑
nents — taking over four years to complete since late 2004 – and not to mention the numerous sources we researched.
Brands were finding it harder to connect with consumers; conventional wisdom seemed irrelevant; and CRM systems and
1‑2‑1 promised much but delivered little. The Internet, globalisation, and hyper‑competition propelled us away from a
production‑led economy to an economy driven by consumption. Our task was to identify this distinctly different creature
known as the new consumer, and to develop frameworks to help brands and agencies develop real responsiveness to this
new consumer.
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We found that: a) brands were out of sync with new consumers; b) in a consumption‑driven economy, successful marketing
must be underpinned by customer value; and c) successful marketing forms a dyanamic system that offers real respon‑
siveness to the new consumer. In other words, brands need to get in sync with new consumers by bringing together new
marketing ideas to change the way they connect with their consumers.
Brands need to rethink the way they create conversations and relationships with consumers and the way they engage
consumers across channels. They need to provide valuable services over one‑way messaging, deal with an increasingly
complicated and expansive content distribution model, and address the empowerment of connected customers.
This briefing outlines trends in the consumer marketing landscape and core ideas that brands can address to remain
relevant today. For information on workshops and strategic planning, please get in touch with Jeeva or Joel on 02 9993
0450.
This briefing document is provided in good faith to parties receiving the “Getting in Sync with New Consumers” briefing and
may not be distributed in any form, sold for profit, or incorporated in any documents without written permission from 33
Interactions Pty Ltd. Third party material referenced in this document is the domain of respective parties.

GETTING IN SYNC.
Organisations need to adapt to shifting consumer behaviour and emerging technologies and address the empowerment of
connected customers immediately. We have developed a comprehensive programme to help organisations and their suppliers
“get in sync” with new consumers and create lasting transactive relationships that result in consumer advocacy
(recommendation and referral).
Briefing sessions on “trends in the consumer marketing landscape” and “ideas in 21st century marketing” are provided
at no cost to organisations and marketing agencies. Marketers can develop specific actions plans in full day workshops to IV
address an increasingly volatile marketing landscape. Tailored workshops help participants deal with specific consumer
marketing problems and address emerging trends and technologies. Our workshops take a step-by-step approach to plan and
implement marketing programmes including the use of specific marketing tools, best practice examples, and related theory.
Workshops cover: *1-2-1 communications; *interaction design; *social marketing; *marketing integration; *the new brand
positioning; *micro-interactions; *crowd sourcing; *brand experience; and *technology-based marketing systems.
Our strategic planning helps clients and their agencies align marketing strategy with contemporary consumer behaviour
and emerging technologies, and covers: *alignment of marketing with the CEO’s agenda; *alignment of marketing strategy
with the new consumer; *integration across the marketing communications mix for response; *ROI and ongoing customer
dialogue; and *brand positioning in the 21st century. We use a zone based approach to focus participant effort on specific
outcomes. The Five Zones© (Insight, Breakthrough, Transformational, Impact, and Results) enable participants to develop
breakthrough strategies that achieve business objectives.
To arrange a briefing session, please contact: jeeva.sathurayar@33i.com.au, howard.moodycliffe@33i.com.au or
joel.maloney@33i.com.au.

TRENDS IN THE
CONSUMER
MARKETING
LANDSCAPE.
1. Desire for greater control in our lives
and over our interactions.
2. Search for meaning and authenticity.
3. Trust in a person like yourself.
1
4. Experience matters.
5. Participation as consumption.
6. Web 2.0 is mainstream
7. Social patterns enforced through
digital tools.
8. Immersion of technology into our
daily lives.
9. The Connected Customer.
10. Non-linear purchase funnel.
COPYRIGHT © 2007–2009 BY 33 INTERACTIONS | WWW.33INTERACTIONS.COM.AU | INFO@33I.COM.AU

MORE CONTROL. 1.
As we move faster and more
furiously throughout our ‘always‑on,
always‑connected’ lives, we become
sharply aware of the demands on our time
2
and the lack of control we have.
The end result is increased tension and a
desire for greater control.
And not having that control, especially in
interactions with products and services,
motivates people to become more vocal
The more you see the less you know
and audible about how they deal with
The less you find out as you grow
companies and brands.
I knew much more then than I do now
U2

GUARDING
1.1 AGAINST
INTRUSION.
Customers face intense levels of message
saturation and intrusion from marketing
“...people are realising that web 2.0 is actually a
today.
huge time sink. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Plaxo
3
Customers have subsequently cultivated may have helped foster community and commu-
much higher levels of resistance to nication, but they’ve also added immensely to the
flow of often-interruptive messages that their
marketing practises and messages.
users receive, leading to information overload and
Consumers have no desire to stop shopping possibly a nasty internet addiction.”
altogether but they want to be engaged by Betsy Schiffman, Wired Magazine, April 2008
marketers in a more satisfying and less
intrusive manner — they just want a better
way to interact with marketers.
COPYRIGHT © 2007–2009 BY 33 INTERACTIONS | WWW.33INTERACTIONS.COM.AU | INFO@33I.COM.AU

SEARCH FOR MEANING AND AUTHENTICITY. 2.
Authentic relationships are integral to our happiness and
success.
However, the quick-fire connections we seek on a day-to-day
basis — to help deal with the stress, urgency and information 4
overindulgence in our lives — lack authenticity.
LACKING THAT EMOTIONAL SUSTENANCE, CONSUMERS ARE CONTINUALLY SEARCHING FOR
THE MEANING AND AUTHENTICITY THAT SUPPORTS THEM.
4

3. TRUST IN A PERSON LIKE YOURSELF.
The lack of trust in companies and institutions has
motivated people to trust their peers or people similar to
them as the best sources of information.
5 According to the Edelman Trust Clearly, a deep void of trust
Barometer, in most markets: exists between consumers,
1. 80% would refuse to buy goods businesses, and institutions.
or services from a company they
do not trust;
2. More than 70% will critique
companies to the people they
know; and
3. One-third share their opinions
and experiences of a distrusted
company on the Web.
5

SIDEBAR
PERCEPTION | REALITY |
80% OF CEO’S
BELIEVE THEIR
BRAND 6
PROVIDES A
SUPERIOR 8% OF THEIR
CUSTOMER CUSTOMERS
EXPERIENCE AGREE
Bain & Company Research

4. EXPERIENCE MATTERS.
Savvy customers value novelty and Customers with infinite choice are
new experiences. Overseas travel, not looking for more products — they
along with vicarious experiences are looking for experiences that cater
facilitated by the Internet, has raised to their deep-seated needs at every
the bar. These days, the point of contact.
expectations of value are much
WE MUST REMEMBER THAT ALL
higher for all brands.
EXPERIENCES COMPETE AGAINST EACH
OTHER FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE
7 CONSUMER.
Companies intending to be relevant today must learn the
art of creating experiences that genuinely engage their
customers. Choice fatigued consumers are not looking for
another product that hasn’t taken their true needs and
desires into consideration.
Sohrab Vossoughi, It’s All About Experience, BusinessWeek, April 11, 2008

PARTICIPATION AS 5.
CONSUMPTION.
Consumers driven by experiences are increasingly
obsessed with the here and now, and have a strong
desire to collect as many experiences and stories as
possible.
Rather than being passive viewers they spend time
searching, reading, scrutinising, authenticating,
8
collaborating, and organising. Participation is the new
consumption. Status comes from finding an apprecia-
tive audience — effectively pitting creative consumers
against brands for audiences.
Everyone is a creative. Anyone can make a YouTube
video or design a MySpace page that sits on an
equal media playing field with anything anyone else
produces.
Importantly, participation alleviates the tension
that comes from a lack of authentic connections and
relationships.

6. WEB2.0 IS MAINSTREAM.
Web 2.0 is effectively the Widespread acceptance and frequent
democratisation of the Internet. consumer usage of Web 2.0
technologies indicates that
The paradigm shift towards an Internet
distribution of content and services is
that facilitates creativity, information
challenging Internet destinations for
sharing, and collaboration among users
consumer attention.
has become mainstream.
9 Web 2.0 based communities and hosted
services from social-networking, wikis,
blogs, and folksonomies (categorising
content through tags) have reached the
critical point where consumer adoption
is far more significant than anyone ever
anticipated.
Homepage customisation, RSS feeds,
shared bookmarks, content sharing,
commenting, rating, desktop widgets,
and Facebook are now commonplace
across customer digital experiences.
9

SOCIAL PATTERNS ENFORCED VIA DIGITAL 7.
TOOLS.
Human beings are social animals and we have a basic need to
interact with one another to fulfil our emotional and material
goals. For consumers, social is not a technology fad or a
destination for marketing messages, it is a dimension of our
humanity.
The difference today is that technology is helping replicate
social structures both online and off. Consider the customer that 10
consumes the best, the coolest, or the most expensive — they
will gain the most status.
Ratings, bookmarks, connected friends, and other tools help
replicate and enforce that status in a digital economy.
10

7.1 THE WEB AS A SOCIAL MEDIUM.
The most significant change in Internet behaviour is the mass
acceptance of the Web as a social medium. From tools that
help people communicate directly (such as instant messaging,
e-mail, and twitter) to those that allow people to connect
via non-traditional means (such as photo and video sharing,
blogging, commenting, reviewing, and rating), the entire web
is becoming social.
Instead of simply creating social networking sites, the concept
11 of social computing is evolving towards making the entire
Internet social.
While most consumers use social networking to connect with
others, this does not suggest that that there is no role for
advertisers; it just has to be accomplished on the user’s terms.
With the socialisation of the Internet, consumers are increas-
ingly relying on peers for recommendations and on search to
locate products.
THE REAL VALUE FOR ADVERTISERS IS THE ROLE OF SOCIAL
INFLUENCE IN PERSUADING CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE.

IMMERSION OF TECHNOLOGY IN 8.
OUR EVERYDAYLIVES.
Shifts in technology are not what concern people. They
are more concerned with how technology can support
them in their daily lives and with the things they
value. The technology of today is finding its role in the
lives of consumers.
If it is good, it gets used; if it’s great, it changes our
lives... and it has changed our lives. We are squarely 12
in the age of the digital lifestyle and the Web has
become so ubiquitous that it’s nearly invisible.
All of the learning we’ve done with regards to
marketing via the Web is suddenly bigger than the
Internet. And, just as importantly, the challenges we
are yet to solve on the Web are now challenges that
exist beyond the PC. This is all relevant anywhere that
digital technologies and experiences exist and, these
days, that’s just about everywhere.

8.1 THE WEB IS EVERYWHERE.
13 Smartphones in general, specifically the iPhone, have radically accelerated Web usage on mobile devices.
Growth is accelerating as carriers push flat data rate plans and this move is already leading content
producers to accelerate investments in building robust mobile offerings.
This means that the information and transparency the Web brings to the buying process, like price and
quality, is free from the desktop. Continued advancements in device capabilities are making consumers
more informed and better connected as they shop.
The phone is just the beginning, too. Everything is getting connected: from in-store kiosks, storefront
windows and shopping carts, to refrigerators, cars and so on.
The march toward ubiquitous computing is on and we are just beginning to see the implications of how
we interact with digital technologies and vice versa.

THE GAMING FAMILY. SIDEBAR
36% of American parents say they play computer and video games.
14
80% of gamer parents say they play video games with their kids.
66% feel that playing games has brought their families closer together.
14

9. THE CONNECTED CONSUMER.
“The rapid adoption of broadband and technology has fostered the rise of the connected
customer. These customers “continue to be exposed to traditional mass media but
simultaneously access information directly (anywhere, anytime) to make informed choices
15 when engaging brands, marketers and special-interest groups on a one-to-one basis.”
Source: Marketing Science Institute
“Connected customers” don’t just surf the digital world, they shape it! They are more intense about their digital communications
and media use. Moreover, these “connected consumers” are actively shaping their engagement with brands and retailers, and
influencing each others’ perceptions and buying behaviour. Connected customers are no longer confined to certain segments
- they roughly mirror the entire Australian population. For these customers, the new experience might be a conversation or it
might be an interactive storytelling session.
ONE THING IS FOR SURE - IT IS DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT THE STATUS QUO!
15

CONNECTED WORLDS ARE TRANSPARENT. SIDEBAR
“... both tempests began with candidates making a critical
mistake in the internet age: lowering their guard at private
events, under the false belief that there are still private events.
The incidents demonstrate how the net has flattened the 16
landscape for political candidates, who can no longer pander
to a compartmentalized audience without fear of it leaking out
to less-receptive voters.”
Wired (April 2008) - Clinton and Obama were caught making “critical” comments by bloggers at private events.

9.1 MY MEDIA.
In the sixties, a generation fixated on creating
new forms of community and expression forced
media and advertisers to adapt. Today, a new
generation is following suit and dragging the rest
of us along for the ride.
This generation expects that they can customise
and personalise everything in their world and
17
daily experiences. Everything must become ‘their
media’ — and their media holds more weight in
their community.
This generation demands products and services
that cater to their moods and desires and will
actively search, modify, or create their own
products and services to meet this demand. “CONSUMERS ARE THE NEW MEDIA
AND THEY KNOW IT.”
Elizabeth Ross, Tribal DDB, AdAge, 8 April, 2008

MEDIA MESHING. 9.2
Media meshing is a behavioural phenom- More than a third of all ages say that they
enon that occurs when people begin have surfed the net while watching televi-
an experience in one medium, such as sion and almost half say they have listened
watching television; then shift to another, to the radio or watched TV while online.
18
such as surfing the Internet; and maybe Ofcom | Times Online
even a third, such as listening to music.
The explanation for this behaviour is the
constant search for complementary
information, different perspectives, and
even emotional fulfilment.

9.3 MICRO INTERACTIONS.
With information overload, permanent “on” situations, and media proliferation consumers are
moving toward shorter micro-interactions like SMS, Twitter, and Facebook. Consumers prefer
19
micro-interactions through which strong, definitive opinions can be articulated.
These opinions carry a “larger than life” influence that make it easier, quicker, and more
meaningful for consumers to socially influence each other as they make product purchase and
brand affinity decisions.
TOOLS IN THE MICRO-INTERACTIONS REALM ALLOW FOR SOCIAL INFLUENCE BECAUSE THEY
DEMAND SO LITTLE OF THE SENDER AND EVEN LESS OF THE RECIPIENT.

NON LINEAR FUNNEL. 10.
Traditional marketing is built around a linear purchase funnel, starting with awareness and
ending with the sale. The proliferation of new digital touch-points has made this concept
obsolete as we face a complex digital ecosystem that includes video, widgets, online
advertising, podcasting, search, virtual worlds, blogs, mobile, gaming, desktop applications,
podcasting… All of this is intensified by the rise of social computing and user participation. 20
Customers snack on digital content and share ideas about products and brands via an array of
devices — brand awareness and purchase consideration is formed just as much by consumers as
by branding efforts.
They research online and buy in stores; they shop in stores and buy online. The Internet has
shattered the entire concept of a linear purchase funnel.

New marketing needs to
incorporate new ideas.
But
21
The difficulty lies, not in the
new ideas, but IN ESCAPING
FROM THE OLD ONES.
John Maynard Keynes

THE FINE PRINT.
This briefing document and “the body of work” referred to as ‘Getting in Sync with New Consumers©’ is an ongoing labour
of love for all involved and forms the basis for how 33 Interactions and its partners help businesses get their marketing
act together. While we are willing to provide briefing sessions and relevant versions of this document to any that ask, our
[pesky and protective, yet sensible] legal people have taken steps to protect our intellectual property.
Copyright of this document, variants of this document, and the ‘body of work’ referred to as ‘Getting in Sync with New
22
Consumers©’ is wholly owned by Jeeva Sathurayar, Joel Maloney, and 33 Interactions Pty Ltd. All material contained in
this document (including any supplementary data) is the property of Jeeva Sathurayar, Joel Maloney, and 33 Interactions
Pty Ltd, and its affiliates, and is protected by copyright; all rights regarding this material are reserved by Jeeva Sathurayar,
Joel Maloney, and 33 Interactions Pty Ltd and includes but is not limited to Transdigital Communications Planning®, the 33
Customer Advocacy Ladder©, and The Five Zones Strategic Planning Framework©.
This briefing document is provided in good faith to parties receiving the “Getting in Sync with New Consumers” briefing
and may not be distributed in any form, sold for profit, reproduced, developed, or incorporated in any documents without
written permission from 33 Interactions Pty Ltd. Third party material referenced in this document is the domain of
respective parties.
© 2009, 33 Interactions Pty Ltd (ABN 87 408 247 635). All rights reserved.

CLOSING CREDITS.
33 Interactions would like to thank the following Flickr members who have offered their work for use in this presentation
under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence. All images in this presentation are copyright to their original authors.
1 / ClickFlashPhotos 9 / Sndrv 16 / Mandolyn
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2 / Hamed Masoumi 10 / Emdot 18 / Striatic
3 / Lucas Hoyos 11 / Capitan Giona 19 / Futileboy
5 / Greg Loby 13 / Chegs 20 / Abulic Monkey
7 / InfoMofo 14 / Andreanna
8 / Beija-Flor 15 / Luc Legay