Report

Communicating with hedgehogs and chameleons

To be heard in the media cacophony companies and organizations within the tourism industry need to think about how they communicate with the consumer. Traditional marketing is almost exclusively one-way. The future of marketing communication is about making the consumer “pull” for more information and creating a dialogue. It is to deliver something of value to the consumer in order to win the consumer’s time and attention. One way to reach through in the media roar is to provide information instead of marketing. Information creates value and is not as easily avoided as pure marketing. Situation marketing is another way to get hold of the customer attention.

By delivering the marketing message as close to the purchase as possible, the chance of affecting the purchase decision is higher. By involving the consumer in the marketing process companies build relations with their customers instead of persuading him/her to believe in a communicated message. It is about letting go of control and let the consumer form the marketing message in order to be in contact with them.

Published: 2009