David Cooperstein: Adaptive Brand Marketing

Forrester Research's David Cooperstein closed out the conference talking about Adaptive Brand Marketing--how we're all going to survive, and thrive, in this real-time culture.

David started by illustrating the fast evolution of news and journalism in the last decade, how we stopped waiting for the 6 o'clock news and began demanding it when, where and how we wanted it. This, of course, forced journalists and media outlets to adapt. Some did, but some are now footnotes in history.

And the connection? Marketers are the new journalists. Your survival depends on how you adapt.

Customers adapt

Customers have adapted to the new onslaught of digital and social media by relying on trusted sources for information. David showed that the source they trust most is an email from a friend. Get your consumer to email someone they know about your product and you're golden.

Multi-tasking is another survival tactic. Gen X and Gen Y watch TV and interact online simultaneously. And there isn't always a connection between the two.

Marketers adapt

Adaptive marketing is the flexible approach in which marketers respond QUICKLY to their environment to align customer and brand goals and maximize return on brand equity. David's three tenets of adaptability are:

1. Think and move differently -- listen to your customers everyday, know how to move
2. Listen more, react intelligently -- take the data and turn it into intelligence so it's useful for making decisions
3. Target people, not statistics -- women 25-44 are not carbon copies of each other

You can start adapting today

Adapt your approach to new ideas 

A new channel with new interaction and engagements will create a groundswell and lead to a new audience type, so experiment with them then, if it's working, integrate it into your other campaigns. Your approach to new ideas needs to be systematic.

Adapt the roles of your team

• Brand advocates can understand and engage local markets, communicate nuances and lead communities
• Brand strategists can roll up the feedback and put it to work.

Adapt your mix of media--paid media is the catalyst, owned media (like your site) is the portable brand, and earned media is the result when they tie closely together.