{"id":5516,"date":"2020-11-10T16:07:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T21:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/?p=5516"},"modified":"2020-11-10T16:08:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T21:08:23","slug":"owning-vs-renting-the-customer-relationship-what-is-best-for-the-future-of-your-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/2020\/owning-vs-renting-the-customer-relationship-what-is-best-for-the-future-of-your-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"Owning vs Renting the Customer Relationship: What Is Best For the Future of Your Brand?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThreeCharles Dickens was famous for this opening line in A Tale of Two Cities<\/em> \u2013 \u201cIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thinking about marketing these days, it does feel like marketers are enjoying \u201cthe best of times,\u201d in that messages can be tailored and targeted to very niche audiences, return on investment can be precisely measured and consumers can be reached on-line and off-line.<\/p>\n

Yet, some days it also seems like \u201cthe worst of times\u201d in that there is so much fragmentation of audiences across multiple platforms that it makes it difficult to promote a brand\u2019s message and map the consumer journey. Furthermore, there seems to be a new – yet hard to understand- breakthrough in digital or tech every week, or a major change by big technology companies, thus making it hard for marketers to discern fact from fiction, and from fad.<\/p>\n

So how does the modern marketer grow their brand, manage a P&L, and grow their business in an age of \u201cbest of times\u201d and \u201cworst of times\u201d?<\/p>\n

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  1. Have a solid brand positioning powered by a relevant consumer insight<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  2. Own vs. rent relationships<\/strong> with your consumer\/customer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. The Insight:<\/strong> The Benefit and Reason to Believe are fundamental marketing concepts. It is important to call out that marketing, regardless of precision and \u201cinnovation\u201d (yeah the quotations are on purpose), will not win over a consumer unless the product\/service provides a meaningful consumer benefit that is different from the competition\u2019s. And to connect to the consumer, your brand needs a powerful insight (or set of insights).\n

      So be prepared to answer the following questions for your brand(s): <\/p>\n