Years ago in the way-back-when, sales teams crafted brand messages using marketing tactics that could ensnare the mind and tantalize the senses. People trusted the ads because they believed that the messengers knew more about the products and services they sold. An example of historic advertising duplicity is the sugar industry and its insistence that sugar had “healthy applications.”
Looking back at that campaign is a good reminder of where are in contrast to where we’ve been, how the consumer has evolved, and how companies have been held accountable within the digital market.
In the post-World War II era, sugar companies formed the Sugar Association Inc. and began a campaign of spin that has stretched to today. The wave of misleading ads convinced people that sugar was an important part of the daily diet and helpful in weight loss. Claims about sugar’s health attributes became commonplace and the PR spin turned the table of discussion into a one-sided debate, leaving consumers either confused or misled.
In a report published last year, the true history of Big Sugar was revealed. Today, evidence showing its dangers continue to mount as the argument about its benefits continues to fall by the wayside. And with this new push to share correct information about sugar, social media, industry reviews, independent publications, and popular books have taken lead roles in giving consumers control of the buying process. They’ve also taught consumers to do research for themselves instead of trusting a product’s marketing team.
Gone are the days when spin dictates sales forecasts and new product lines. Social media engagement has played a pivotal role in holding companies accountable through the sharing and spreading of information. News stories, pictures, testimonials, and reviews can go viral at any moment, driven by the very consumer that used to take everything for granted.
The differences between the buying process of yesteryear and today’s consumers can be illustrated by a three-step marketing model from Marketing Sherpa’s “then” and “now” table from the Inbound Marketing Handbook:
The process outlined above is also confirmed in Google’s Zero Moment of Truth study and has become the new norm in consumer behavior. With this new buying process comes a new era of responsibility for brands and their marketing teams.
As I wrote on the Huffington Post, “Internet users are writing two million blog posts, sending 294 billion emails and posting 400 million tweets... every single day.” The sheer volume of information is impossible to keep up with—and as a result, companies are held responsible for the spin they create as the consumer continues to dictate his or her terms on an hourly basis.
Despite complaints that the digital age has sanitized communication between people, it’s impossible to ignore how digital marketing tactics have brought a level of accountability never before seen within the corporate community. Brands like McDonald's and KitchenAid have experienced the difference of the digital age with certain social media blunders, and have grown smarter as a result. With this increased accountability, social sharing, and a new level of consumer engagement, one can’t help but wonder if the same result would be seen in the sugar industry the way back when or if the educated consumer would have held it accountable.
