Marketers must understand digital-age consumers
AS the country enters the “Thailand 4.0” era initiated by the government, marketers and brands should gain better understanding of consumers’ special needs driven by the changes in the digital ecosystem, a forum was told.
Dangjaithawin Anatachai, managing director of Intage Thailand, said yesterday that consumers were no longer simply targets of products or services but now had their own ideas and the ability to about those products and services with others.
Amid the pressure from fast changes in physical and virtual communication, consumers have created their own subculture, she said.
She commented on this trend at the “Prosumer 4.0 Version Forum” held by Intage Thailand, a market research firm.
Marketers should keep their eyes on “de-branding”, as today’s brands will no longer mean what they once did to the consumer.
Dangjaithawin added that consumers chose brands that were meaningful to them. Therefore, companies should humanise their brands, even those that have been long established.
Brands should be authentic, as today’s consumers are very active in criticising and investigating once controversies surface involving their beloved brands.
“A brand does not need to be a promise, but it must be real,” she stressed.
Marketers should also manage proper relationships between consumers and brands. The brand should also play a key role in empowering the consumer’s self-actualisation.
Under a session on what matters to consumers when their focuses, interests, and demands in life are all digital, David McCaughan, thought leader and storyteller at Bibliosexual and former director at McCann WorldGroup’s Truth Central unit, said brands had to create expectations for consumers.
Marketers need crowd-sourcing ideas to make sure they can enhance and develop their brands and marketing campaigns in line with digital consumers’ needs, he said.
