Thursday, 12 March 2009 07:36

Marketing 2.0 : Part 1

Large companies act small. It's all the rage among business gurus, and it's about time. The idea is that small business are nimble and capable of avoiding adversity rather than running into it full steam and hoping to absorb the blow. The marketing revolution of the 80's taught its proponents that the people need the company more than the company needs the people.

In recent years some businesses have emerged that recognize the desire for a more personal business relationship by its customers, prompting some competitors to adapt. Still, there are businesses that are so large and set in their ways that they refuse to budge. As Seth Godin said in his book Small Is The New Big, about these giant institutions of American commerce, "We don't care, because we don't have to." They have terrible customer service and nobody cares how customers are treated, because competition is low and demand is high.

If there is anything the last few months has taught us, is that even the mightiest of institutions can fall. All it takes is the right set of changing market conditions.