Marketing & The Internet: The More Things Change.....

Despite what you might think about marketing management in the era of the internet, we don't appear to know much more about consumer behavior now than we did prior to this new era.

The Wall Street Journal has featured several pieces this month concerning marketing on the internet. Early in the month, they published a "special" report about it. Then Lee Gomes wrote a review of the internet-focused hot seller, "The Long Tail," by Chris Anderson, this week.

What struck me most about the WSJ special report was that it was so anecdotal. The piece featured stories of various retailers' and marketers' attempts to, and experiences with, internet advertising and/or promotion. From what I gathered, the time honored marketing dictum, attributed originally, I believe, to John Wannamaker, is still true,

"I know I'm wasting half of my advertising spending, but I don't know which half."

At the end of the report, the Journal printed an interview with Proctor & Gamble chief marketing officer, James Stengel.

I have to say, he seems, from his comments, like a very bright guy. His basic instinct is pure marketing- to use his company, and its products, to get into the very fabric of helping his customers live better lives. He seems similarly at sea about the internet, as the rest of the interviewees in the report were. But at least Stengel is clear about where he's going with any internet initiatives.

On the age-old split between lifestyle marketing, and benefit-bundle marketing, Stengel comes down on the side of the latter. That is, he focuses on what products can do for the customer, and how internet search and advertising can help a customer realize those benefits.

This stands in sharp contrast to efforts, most notably by product placements, to sell merchandise based upon a lifestyle with which they are prominently associated.

Given Stengel's focus, one might think that Anderson's new book, "The Long Tail," would be all about how the internet lets every niche product become a star. And that is what the author claims.

However, as Lee Gomes, the WSJ columnist discovers, the basic premise of the book is fraudulent. Anderson coins a new term, apparently prominent on the book's dust jacket, "The 98 Percent Rule." Basically, Anderson alleges that with the arrival of the internet, niche products get respect, and sales volume. Thus, the sainted "80/20" rule is dead, and the "98 Percent Rule" takes its place.

Except that Gomes debunks this myth. It turns out that all Anderson observed was the early days of hit-driven product websites, where consumers bought, downloaded, etc, nearly all the titles offered. As more product came into the inventories of companies like Netflix, Amazon, Ecast, and iTunes.

So, even before this new best-seller is a year old, its central message is found to be the flawed the conclusion of hasty and badly-done "research."

Oh, well. Maybe next year someone will decode internet buying behavior. For now, though, the usual suspects plod on. Advertisers can't quite measure consumer behavior, marketing managers throw tons of money at online promotion, in hopes that something will stick. And the poor, dull business of actually observing and reflecting on how a product will affect a customer's life continues to get little respect.

Except at P&G, about which I will write more imminently.