Rule #1 Insight Comes Before Inspiration

I would like to say that this rule lends itself toward common sense, but we all know common sense is not that common!

Anywhere I go, I find that there is always someone that is asking questions pertaining to what I want or am trying to find. If I walk into a store, a greeting is usually followed by questions, starting with "Is there something I can help you find?".

When I buy a gift for someone, I need to know something about that person. They say gift cards are impersonal, and they are right; they can be impersonal. Keep in mind - gift cards are only impersonal if they don't benefit the person receiving them.

Food For Thought: As a Second grade teacher, my sister sometimes receives gives cards from parents at Christmas and the end of the year. It is a wonderful gesture. She especially appreciates gift cards that can be used for her classroom. Parents that know anything about her would never buy her a giftcard from Starbucks...she doesn't drink coffee. Chocolate milk is more her style. Unfortunately, every year she receives multiple gift cards from Starbucks...which is great for me anyway!

Marketing is very similar. In order to reach an audience, a company must understand their customer at a level that in prior times would have been impossible. The availability of information today is impressive. All I need to complete some research today is a smart phone with apps or a computer with access to the internet.

When I was in high school, computers were still a fairly rare find, and they were definitely not found in every home....and I am really not that old! I was one of the lucky few students who had the opportunity to complete my research paper on a computer instead of a typewriter. Adding footnotes and bibliographies with today’s technology is very simple (as long as you know how to use the software). Before then, it was challenging to make sure the footnotes and references ended up on the same page with the correct formatting!

There is a wide gap between technology available today and the audiences that utilize each of the marketing channels. It is more important now than ever to understand your target audience and the channels that reach them. Older populations are reached more readily by the use of television, radio, and print, whereas younger generations are better accessed via technology and social media.

This rule is simple and straight forward: Know your market.

I would like you to consider this Super Bowl ad from 2002:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9030249634811859116#

Do you remember this ad running? Why did Budweiser do it? Why did it run only once, but become a viral phenomenon? What do you think?

What is the purpose of this blog?

Welcome to DemandingBrands where we explore in depth the book, The On-Demand Brand written by Rick Mathieson.

Each year I select one popular press book that I think somehow grasps the true intersection of marketing and e-commerce. In previous years we have read Paul Gillen's "The New Influencers," and John Battelle's "Search." This year, the honor goes to Mathieson.

During the Fall Semester 2010, my MBA e-commerce class will be reading, dissecting, and reviewing each chapter of this book. Most of the activity will take place between September 16 and November 18, but we can continue the conversation beyond that.

There are 22 students enrolled in the class, and each are authors of the blog. If you are a student in the class you are free to post! If you are simply interested in this book but not in the class, I invite you to join the conversation by commenting on the students' posts.