Lot of talk this week about who owns the digital marketing customer. Brands and ad agencies claim they own the customer's data. More than a few panelists at Thursday's Digiday sessions said that if the customer is paying a network or site for interaction privileges at that moment, then that site owns the customer. To all those who say they can own the customer, here's a newsflash: no one owns the customer.
Nor does anyone rent the customer or loan a customer. Any company that thinks they can own the customer, or the customer's data, or the customer's digital experience, has a weird type of business neuroticism. That neurosis might be best cured through a little reality therapy. The reality is, customers may pay you time, attention, and revenue, but they give you no more than that. The goal of internet marketing is to create the opportunities for that attention and revenue.
Recent news stories are best seen in this harsh light. Google may assign and attract all the data and phone numbers it wants, but it still owns only that data. Making it work requires engagement, and we also learned this week from Forrester that engagement breaks down to time and attention. Nowhere in Forrester's engagement report, or the Econsultancy/cScape engagement report, does it say that the customer is owned as a result of engagement.
Take a look at some of the more respected brands and their internet strategies and you'll see a bargain is struck for attention and engagement. Even diapers (Luvs from Kimberly Clark, Pampers from P&G) have websites that give away information in return for the currency of attention. So much information is given away in today's media marketplace, that the payment system has been whittled down to attention units, not monetary units. The deal is "I'll give you information, if you pay me some attention."
But at no time does a brand own a customer. That chain is cut loose too easily. Brands that approach the online marketing space for customer ownership will be disappointed. Come looking for that precious bit of attention, and marketers get paid in full.
Reader comments (5)
8:06AM on 14th March 2009
Fantastic piece John, I couldn't agree more, although you're talking to the converted here.
Unfortuantely i see toomany marketers and companies addicted to the neurosis you describe.
11:40AM on 16th March 2009
Excellent!
4:41PM on 16th March 2009
This piece caught my attention because the premiss seemed so ludicrous. No matter what, the customer on the internet is just a click away from going away. Yes, you may get my attention and I may comment and buy something (attention and engagement) but I still have that mouse in my hand with milions of other sites to look at.
Lordy, where did someone get the idea the Internet has turned into communism?
Sheila
1:58PM on 17th March 2009
Great point, and Google is a great example. What would happen if (hypthetically, of course) all of their customers just left? How long would that old data be relevant - 3 months, maybe 6? Any company, no matter how big, who thinks that their customer data can eventually replace the customer is in for a rude awakening.
8:02AM on 19th March 2009
Fabuolous Post . there is an old saying that A company should feel lucky if a customer is giving them a chance to serve him No company can own a customer . Because at end everybody need money instead of Data
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