Are marketing executives burying their heads in the sand?

The most basic principle of strategic management is flexibility. Management decisions must consider both the internal and the external environments and the changes that arise from time to time. This means that management decisions are constantly in danger of being rendered obsolete if they are not refined in time to accommodate the changes. The digital wave is one of these changes in the external environment..

Brand building in the digital wave requires a skilful approach and flexibility. The digital wave is churning out consumers who are used to being in charge and who demand to have their views and opinions respected. They want the brands to listen instead of talking at them. They desire meaningful conversations as opposed to sending impersonal messages. They want the fulfilment that they have not only been understood but also that their views, feelings, demands, and preferences have been taken into consideration. This places consumer engagement among the most effective strategic brand management tactics.

The digital explosion is an opportunity as well as a threat. It revolutionises ways in which a brand can express itself. Brand managers can utilise the digital platforms to enhance interactivity. The increased interaction between the brand and the consumer can be highly dynamic. It could even warrant the brand managers changing the brand identity to conform to what the consumers desire to see. The consumer is increasingly impatient and wants to see their needs and preferences accommodated with speed. This can be challenging for brand managers as it at times would warrant them changing their brand propositions from time to time. The delicate balance therefore needs to be struck. The organisation cannot be fully dependent on dynamic consumer perceptions to inform their branding strategy. At the same time, the concept and the branding decisions are bound to be rendered ineffective if the changes in the society are not accommodated.

The dynamism described above is what many marketers fail to adjust to. Most marketers continue to embrace the traditional branding approach in which the consumer is a passive receiver of marketing communication while the organisation almost exclusively channels information on the brand identity. Under this traditional mode, all that is needed is for strategic marketing message design to be effective and the right messages coined. With effective communication, the receivers of the messages end up perceiving the brand as the organisation intends. Marketers who believe that such an approach is still possible can be said to be hiding their heads in the sand.

The importance of being dynamic in marketing approaches is what distinguishes bureaucratic organisations from entrepreneurial ones. While the former focus on control and performance measurement, the latter focus on accommodating the customer and the changing preferences. The entrepreneurial approach is what marketers ought to embrace in their brand management strategies. It is no longer feasible for the traditional marketing approach to be sustained. The organisation that wishes to survive the highly dynamic and competitive environment must take not of this and make adjustments as appropriate.