The buyer-centric revolution: The rise of reverse direct marketing

Alan Mitchell, a fellow member of the steering group of the UK Buyer-Centric Commerce Forum (and prolific writer on the failures of seller-centric commerce, marketing and branding) has a teriffic new article published in the recent issue of the Journal of Interactive Markteting (copies have to be purchased).

A synopsis from Ingenta:

A long-standing and fundamentally important division of labour between marketers and consumers is coming to an end. Traditionally, companies make and sell while consumers buy and use. But emerging added-value buying services are putting the power of IT and information in the hands of consumers and reversing the flow of marketing processes, so that buyers' search for value pre-empts sellers' search for customers. The buying process is becoming professionalised and organised. At the same time, such ‘reverse marketing’ processes represent a fundamental challenge to the direct marketing status quo while promising to realise direct marketing's dream of ‘perfect’ relevance at minimum cost.

This article is particularly interesting because it not only expertly synthesises numerous perspectives on the whole subject area but also draws on several examples of organisations developing reverse marketing and buyer-centric business models and strategies (including reverse marketing solutions business Conciera).

As part of my work, I am also compiling case-studies of reverse marketing in practice and am developing a analysis of the different strategies firms (new and old) are pursuing to capitalise on the failure of traditional marketing logic. Please write me if you have any experiences of this you can share with me .. I will then be happy to share this with you...

Then, my next mini-project is to develop a reverse market assessment framework, a diagnostic that companies can use to assess their current position, develop and share understanding and then identify what they can do to experiment and grow appropriate opportunities and strategies . Do let me know if this is something you would be interested in .

Comments

[Richard]

I recently came across an article in Brandweek about Nike's use of self service technology in it's Niketown stores. They are using a new touchscreen product that allows shoppers to customize shoes, bags, and watches using the touchscreen system. The Planar DS15 retail kiosk system that Nike is using is the latest example of the growth of reverse marketing.