Marketers say '...no way out but change'

The Coca-Cola Company let consumers in India and Pakistan connect with each other and share the experience with its Small World vending machines

The senior executives who spoke at the annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the US seemed to be auditioning for a reality show called "Extreme Makeover: Corporate Edition."

The executives urged their peers to recognise that the pace and scope of technological and societal changes - described as "crazy" in two presentations - required what one speaker called a "constant reinvention" of marketing.

The stakes are high enough, some suggested, that the need to make over marketing may be a matter of life and death - at least, when it comes to careers.

John Costello, the president for global marketing and innovation at the Dunkin' Brands Group, advocated providing consumers with "a real clear point of product differentiation" by declaring, "Differentiate or die."

Stephen Quinn, the executive vice-president and chief marketing officer at the Walmart U.S. division of Wal-Mart Stores, said, "We as marketers have never had to face this before" particularly against a backdrop of "an economy that's not that great."

Marketers must acknowledge they are operating in an era where "the consumer is in control" and decides what is a hit or what misses, Quinn said. He referred to the huge popularity of the South Korean singer Psy - "There is not a marketer in this room good enough to engineer this".

Joseph V Tripodi, the executive vice-president and chief marketing and commercial officer at the Coca-Cola Company, discussed how risk-taking must become second nature, citing the "big, hairy, audacious goal" his company adopted in 2010, under the rubric of Vision 2020, to more than double revenue in a decade.

Among other recent risky business decisions, Tripodi listed the introduction in Argentina of a soft drink named Coca-Cola Life, which mixes sugar and stevia and is sold in a recyclable bottle, made with plant material, bearing a green label rather than the Coke brand's familiar red one. "It's like playing with the crown jewels," he said, "but we're encouraged by the results early on."

With so many consumers engaging with companies, and one another, through social media sites, marketers should consider "provocations," which generate responses that are "shared broadly," Tripodi said. "We talk around the world, 'We need to be bold, be disruptive,'" he added, offering as examples an effort that encouraged Indians and Pakistanis to connect with one another through interactive Coca-Cola 'Small World' vending machines.

Beth Comstock, the senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at the General Electric Company, took a long-term perspective - portraying Thomas A Edison, a founder of G.E., as "the Steve Jobs of his day" - in offering "some lessons learnt as we try to navigate the change." She said, "At G.E., we're not going to be Facebook. We're not going to be Apple. We're pretty cool with what we are."

And what is that? "We have embraced our geeky side," Comstock explained. She provided examples of how "sci-fi goes to sci-real" in social media that include Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine and YouTube through initiatives like "Datalandia, the small town saved by Big Data," "factory flyovers," "140 things we made today" and "six-second science fairs".

Costello of Dunkin' Brands warned that "in the crazy, ever-changing world we face," where "marketing has become very, very complicated," it has become "easy to get caught up in trying to do everything." Rather, it is important to "confront reality," he said, adding, "Marketers tend to be optimists, but you know, hope is not a strategy."

For Dunkin' Donuts stores, Costello said, a decision was made to promote differentiation with a campaign, "America runs on Dunkin', " that presents the brand's coffee products as "how everyday folks who keep America running keep themselves running every day." Although "'Time to make the donuts' was an iconic campaign" for Dunkin' Donuts for decades, Costello said, executives realised that "coffee was the future." Reflecting on how "change has become the norm," he added, the company plans to introduce new commercials soon with a social-media focus. The spots end with consumers proclaiming, "Hashtag my Dunkin'," in Twitter-friendly fashion, as "#mydunkin." about of about 1,850 delegates.

@The New York Times