Out with the old... in with the other stuff

What is new? With the economy on the fritz you have to wonder what will come of marketing. Will everyone go grassroots? GM doesn't have the money to spend to blitzkrieg the world with commercials. Budweiser is cutting back. Will large companies do what small companies have had to do for years and go directly to customers?

It's not impossible. You go to Borders and buy books--they have your email address--they send you email with specials. But that isn't grassroots enough. Wal-Mart could do send me emails, too. They could build a profile of me every time I walk through their door. They could send products geared towards me the same way Amazon can. They don't. GM could. Budweiser could. They just never had to. Grassroots marketing is harder than carpet-bomb marketing because you have to know your customers. Really know them--not just a name and email. You have to create a relationship. That's hard. But the pay-off can be huge.