Page 36 - Marketing Management

DEFINING MARKETING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY | CHAPTER 1 13

Modern retailers increasingly
emphasize in-store experiences for
their customers, as does Dick’s
Sporting Goods.

their stores with coffee bars, demonstrations, and performances, marketing an “experience”
rather than a product assortment. Dick’s Sporting Goods has grown from a single bait-and-
tackle store in Binghamton, New York, into a 300-store sporting goods retailer in 30 states.
Part of its success springs from the interactive features of its stores. Customers can test golf
clubs in indoor ranges, sample shoes on its footwear track, and shoot bows in its archery
range. 22
• Disintermediation. The amazing success of early dot-coms such as AOL, Amazon.com,
Yahoo!, eBay, E*TRADE, and others created disintermediation in the delivery of products
and services by intervening in the traditional flow of goods through distribution channels.
These firms struck terror into the hearts of established manufacturers and retailers. In re-
sponse, traditional companies engaged in reintermediation and became “brick-and-click”
retailers, adding online services to their offerings. Some became stronger contenders than
pure-click firms, because they had a larger pool of resources to work with and established
brand names.
• Consumer buying power. In part, due to disintermediation via the Internet, consumers have
substantially increased their buying power. From the home, office, or mobile phone, they can
compare product prices and features and order goods online from anywhere in the world
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, bypassing limited local offerings and realizing significant price
savings. Even business buyers can run a reverse auction in which sellers compete to capture
their business. They can readily join others to aggregate their purchases and achieve deeper
volume discounts.
• Consumer information. Consumers can collect information in as much breadth and
depth as they want about practically anything. They can access online encyclopedias, dic-
tionaries, medical information, movie ratings, consumer reports, newspapers, and other
information sources in many languages from anywhere in the world. Personal connections
and user-generated content thrive on social media such as Facebook, Flickr (photos),
Del.icio.us (links), Digg (news stories), Wikipedia (encyclopedia articles), and YouTube
(video). 23 Social networking sites—such as Dogster for dog lovers, TripAdvisor for ardent
travelers, and Moterus for bikers—bring together consumers with a common interest. At
CarSpace.com auto enthusiasts talk about chrome rims, the latest BMW model, and where
to find a great local mechanic. 24
• Consumer participation. Consumers have found an amplified voice to influence peer
and public opinion. In recognition, companies are inviting them to participate in designing
and even marketing offerings to heighten their sense of connection and ownership.
Consumers see their favorite companies as workshops from which they can draw out the
offerings they want.
• Consumer resistance. Many customers today feel there are fewer real product differences,
so they show less brand loyalty and become more price- and quality-sensitive in their
search for value, and less tolerant about undesired marketing. A Yankelovich study