Human behavior is very interesting to me. I have always loved anthropology, history, psychology and sociology. I think this is what has historically drawn me to marketing. Marketing is the science of human behavior as it relates to consumerism and recently the concentration has gotten very complex.

I have tried to build a evolutionary model of the changes businesses are facing today. My focus of this post is on consumer packaged goods (CPG) as it provides the greatest statistical evidence of change.

1900-1990 (The Good Old Days)

Oh the good old days of marketing. Media channels were limited and the pesky internet didn’t disrupt pricing like it does today. The purchase journey was simple because there were not very many options. Consumers typically learned about products through a handful of media channels or talking with friends and family. Marketing could be much more effective, but cost significantly more for the marketer. Marketers also received significant help from the media channels through turnkey solutions. Marketers didn’t need to know every aspect of advertising, because ultimately they didn’t have control of message distribution. Marketers could focus on their product and let the media companies handle the distribution. Marketing wasn’t simple, but it sure was easier for the marketer at times.

2000-2010 (The Internet)

Then there was the Internet. Now everyone is a media source. All you need is a computer, compelling content and internet access. I believe the internet is the single most disruptive medium to ever happen. Consumers now had options. With options came a longer purchase journey because consumers wanted to shop for the best deal. With the internet, they now had the ultimate shopping tool. Other rings to the journey were also added such as digital awareness advertising, online reviews and emerchants. This created a huge problem for both traditional media and marketers, because the message was being diluted and product pricing was becoming transparent. The strongest chance for conversion was still the physical store, but the journey to even reach the store was becoming longer. The only thing emerchants needed was trust from the consumer and a savvy shopper to capitalize on large conversions.

2011 (Social/Mobile)

Where getting consumers to your store was once the biggest challenge, now keeping them there is proving very difficult. Consumers now have smart phones for scanning products to receive price comparisons and reviews. Sometimes consumers will only come to the store to “demo” the product by physically investigating its merits, but then leave without buying and immediately purchase the product from a low-price emerchant. Social media also plays a heavy role in determining purchase decisions do to the easy of online feedback. Consumers are leveraging their friends and family through Facebook and Twitter to determine their next purchase. This is defining the way a new generation shops and buys products. Black Friday is the largest shopping day of the year, but many of the purchases are happening online and cyber Monday is making serious growth strides.

Conclusion

If I could make a few concluding points for marketers and merchants it would be this: