CUSTOMER FOCUSED MARKETING

"Marketing 2.0" is the label being given to the new ways marketing is being practiced with Web 2.0 concepts and tools. While these new ways are particularly evident in marketing communications (how sellers and buyers talk to one another), they are affecting the entire practice of marketing. Several factors have contributed to the growing excitement amongst marketers about Marketing 2.0, including: (a) the growing availability of broadband Internet connections, (b) the much easier searchability of the Internet, (c) the increased experience and self-confidence of Internet users, (d) the increased skepticism of all corporate communications (from press releases to advertising), and (e) the increased physical separation of people (resulting in desires for 'virtual socialization'). Marketing 2.0 is all about tapping into the remarkable growth in 'social networking'. In many ways, Marketing 2.0 is an attempt to leverage an old marketing idea : potential cus

Marketing 2.0 is, in some ways, a "paradigm shift" for marketers. The old paradigm (Marketing 1.0) has been characterized as 'top down, interruption marketing', meaning that sellers controlled what was said about their products and services, who got to hear their messages and when they heard them. The classic example of interruption marketing is the unwanted television commercial that appears just as the suspense is building on your favourite TV show. The new paradigm (Marketing 2.0) shifts much greater control of information flow to the potential customer. In this view, the customer chooses what information to examine, when to access it, and importantly, has the opportunity to add to the information flow that other potential customers may see. Some have called this a shift to "permission marketing" (the seller has to be invited into the customer's attention). Others have called this "conversation marketing" to express that customers can now