With all the excitement over the Facebook IPO, there has been talk about where the next social network of importance will come from. Chris Brogan made a point in this post that not everyone wants to be part of a social number numbering over 500Million people.

Just like simplifying might be a good keyword for 2012, smaller networks might be all the rage for the future as people identify more focused groups of people on networks that share their specific interests. Pinterest was one of the networks mentioned as a candidate for the next big thing and I turned to our Mystery Millennial to get her take on whether she uses (she does) and likes (she does) Pinterest.

Here’s her take on why Millennials like Pinterest.

Perhaps, if you are an outsider to this social media infused generation, the point of Pinterest and it’s uses might be lost on you. Let me share an account of what Pinterest means to me on a daily basis, yes daily, and maybe even persuade you to better understand how your brand could benefit from a significant presence on this unique social and artistic outlet.

First of all, as I mentioned earlier Pinterest has a place in my daily life, I get on at least twice a day and browse through both random categories and things of interest to me. I “repin” anything I feel so inclined to share or keep for my own benefit onto one of my own boards.

For me, Pinterest is a colorful, visually appealing, and endless flow of information doorways. All you have to do is reach for one that grabs your attention and open a world of information regarding whatever has piqued your interest. Not only has your attention been drawn, but most likely you will share this new information with your fellow pinboard followers.

The other way I use Pinterest is to save an item, picture, article, or product I want to be sure to log away for future use in what is becoming a virtual scrapbook. For example I have my favorite denim shop and dream pair of jeans listed in my fashion section for future purchases. I have my eye on them and this is how I keep them bookmarked along with multiple outfits I can refer to before doing some shopping. It’s almost like I keep a running shopping cart for when I see something I want for next season, or next paycheck.

I use Pinterest often alongside my Internet search engines to provide answers to my most random questions, like what am I cooking for supper, or what color should I paint my walls? The information and products on Pinterest truly can hold sway to my personal life and those around me.

I have changed up certain household products based on a product recommendation found on Pinterest, I have made purchases based on my findings on Pinterest and so have many of my friends. Wonderfully I have Pinterest on my computer, laptop, iPhone, and iPad, so it follows me wherever I go!

I cannot curb my enthusiasm for this form of information sharing for many reasons, and you will find many, many Millennials who agree with me. If you are promoting something and want the time and attention from myself and others like me, you might need to play a little on Pinterest.

Editor’s Note: Traditional marketing practice might be to “hole-up” with a team and a whiteboard and try to figure out what Millennial’s are thinking. A more effective approach is to just ask them. Thanks to our Mystery Millennial for her sharp insight on Pinterest.

Yesterday, we wrote about the Facebook IPO and how the offering was putting relationships at the center of the business world. The implications for marketers and how social loyalty evolves are significant.

The “Like” has become the “identifying word of an entire generation” and big brands are shifting their attitudes and budgets from traditional media to the web as they recognize that Facebook and Google are the platforms of the future. Just this week, Procter & Gamble announced they are trimming their annual advertising budget in favor of these more efficient platforms.

Evidence abounds in every corner that sharing can be a powerful tool for marketers to leverage. A Fleishman-Hillard study reported that Millennial women are ideal brand advocates as 46% access reviews written by other users, and one third are willing to recommend a product online following a positive experience with the brand.

As a dedicated loyalty marketer, I fully side with Zuckerberg on the importance of relationships. I also wince over the perils of sharing everything, and fret that technology development is outpacing our human capacity to cope with and adapt to new social tools. As much as we’ve read stories of faux pas committed by Facebook and Twitter users, I really believe that vast numbers of Millennials still do not grasp the long term implications of non-stop sharing.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines relationship as “the state of being related or interrelated”.  For most of us, this definition implies relationships are structured in terms of pairs, i.e. between husband and wife, brother and sister, friend and friend (BFF’s), or consumer and company. Sure, we all have relationships with groups (school, church, club) but those are not typically as transparent and personal as those that are paired. Most humans are wired to connect on an individual level,  and as social networks redefine a relationship from “one to one” to “one to many”, it may delight some while making others wholly uncomfortable.

Even the most enthusiastic and dedicated Facebook users register some concern that the reality of their lives is shifting from the natural to the ether. The Facebook employee writing a blog post in the Wall Street Journal this week quoted a friend who shared “I don’t want to be the people who, rather than living their lives and sharing their lives on Facebook, their lives are Facebook.”

As time goes on, the enthusiastic generation of Millennials will gradually expire and I expect there will one day be a Facebook Obituary section, with a person’s page memorialized and a “last update” made by a friend or family member. Instead of signing the guest book at the local funeral parlor, we’ll just click “Like” via the kiosk situated next to the casket.

In other words, life will continue to change, probably in ways we cannot imagine. Taking Facebook public is the just the beginning. To stay ahead in the marketing game, you had better keep your imagination alive and your mitochondria healthy. You’re going to need every one of them to stay on top of it all.

In a previous post, I mentioned several areas of innovation that will impact Loyalty Marketing in 2012. There is never room to offer a truly comprehensive list and not everything cited will necessarily become the equivalent of a marketer’s lottery ticket.

Realizing the abundance of new products and strategies introduced to market during the latter part of 2011, I plan to share a few more interesting things to watch over this first month of the new year.

As we all know, Groupon took the marketing world by storm last year, reinforcing an already dangerous instant gratification mindset among consumers. Reaction to the success of Groupon has been varied, with some marketers bemoaning the death of consumer loyalty as people seemed unable to focus on anything but 50% off a deal that needed to be purchased today.

Others soon pointed out the weakness in the Groupon model as it represented a consummate marketing “hammer”, i.e. a tool designed for one job and one job only. As a merchant or retailer, if you’re interested in acquiring new customers, Groupon seemed a great tool. Yes, you needed to protect yourself from the potential hazards of the Groupon model itself, but in our short term minded world, Groupon was seemingly too tempting for merchants to pass up.

Groupon has been moving to quiet its critics and recently introduced Groupon Rewards. On the surface, Groupon seeks to stimulate not just acquisition but repeat purchase and “loyal” customers, but as a writer at Colloquy smartly stated, “If I’m digesting this news right, this would be the equivalent of retail-store window signs announcing, “Everything 50% off in the store–spend over $100 and we’ll give you 80% off on your next purchase!”. The writer concluded by saying: “The concept seems to translate to simply an even bigger acquisition discount.”

In the midst of all the buzz over daily deals in late 2011, Affinity Solutions launched Spot ON Deals, a product positioned to “do daily deals right”.  In the company’s press release,  Jonathan Silver, President and CEO said; “Today’s daily deals programs more often than not attract bargain hunters; they don’t encourage repeat business, and they don’t allow merchants to meaningfully track results.”

To address these issues, Affinity says it will enable participating merchants to “target the right customer with the right offer at the right time, using data-driven insights to hone in on key segment and consumer spending trends”. Affinity also addresses daily deal measurement offering merchants the ability to track the effectiveness of their offers, “while deploying ‘follow-on’ offers to drive repeat purchases, loyalty and customer lifetime value.”

Today’s Take Away

There is and will continue to be heavy competition the daily deal space. The real prize is to move from a singular focus on daily deals and incorporate the tactic into a more comprehensive customer strategy that will benefit brands, their merchant partners, and consumers over the longer term.

It will be interesting to watch and see if the originators of the daily deal (Groupon, Living Social and others) will be able to bridge their product into the wider loyalty marketing space, or whether Affinity Solutions and other leaders from the loyalty marketing industry itself will be better suited to take the daily deal to the next level.

I was privileged to hear Seth Godin speak this week. Let’s face it, there are many high priced keynote speakers around, and I have listened to several who give an entertaining 45 minute talk, generate a few laughs, but leave me with nothing to take back to the office.

Seth Godin was not one of these. His one hour talk was awarded by hearty and sincere applause from the audience, and I had to drop my pen while taking notes to join in the appreciative celebration.

I have read most of Seth’s books and have admired his ability to capture a short list of important concepts and communicate them in succinct and readable fashion. While introducing Seth, the MC of this event reminded us that typing “Seth” into the search field of any browser will lead you right to Seth Godin. Try it. That is as impressive as any other SEO result I have seen, underscoring his impact on the marketing industry.

As relates to Loyalty Marketing, Seth hit several hot buttons for me. Today there are a variety of descriptive terms used by suppliers and consultants in the business talking about the “Art and Science” of Loyalty Marketing, treating it as “Alchemy”, or otherwise expressing that customer loyalty should be generated through more than rote design. I agree there is an interpretive side to strategy development that in some cases can be equally important as quantitative analysis.

The trouble is, as Loyalty Marketing has become a widely applied strategy to achieve financial results for big brands, the industry has become populated a mile wide and an inch thick with customer loyalty “experts”. Large commercial agencies dismiss loyalty as just one more service that can be provided to a client under an umbrella retainer agreement, and there are still too many cookie-cutter solutions in the market which focus on cost efficiency and ignore customer engagement and results.

Seth Godin challenged the group yesterday, contending that, “competence is no longer important”. He warned that “if you can write it down, a customer can find it cheaper” and suggested that as we allow our creative trade to become more systematized, we risk becoming evaluated on price and delivery, rather than on the greater value we can deliver to our clients.

Seth urged the group to seek to “solve interesting problems” and to strive to “do work that matters”. This really is our calling as loyalty marketers, and the complex digital world we live in will reward this perspective more each day.

There are some interesting and challenging problems to be solved indeed, and the people which find the answers and deliver practical solutions to clients will forge a new wave of innovation in our business.

1. Who will connect the dots to make the concept of Social Loyalty a reality that can be executed and measured by brands?
2. Who will transform retail bank customer marketing from its continuing product focus to a broader customer relationship model that is practical and affordable to operate?
3. Who will turn the key to unlock coalition style loyalty marketing in the United States?
4. Who will find the artful way to engage affluent consumer groups through loyalty programs? To reach those that “have everything they need”, we have to break the mold.

Seth concluded by making the point that we have to be willing to take some chances, to stop being afraid to trial new approaches, and to create the path for brands to follow.

People welcome and embrace leadership. Often there just isn’t enough to go around. Today, there is a big opportunity for a new position of leadership to be established in Loyalty Marketing. I’ve got my machete in hand and am ready to carve the new path. How about you?

Amid the overwhelming flow of information in our digital world, there are a few keepers. Chris Brogan is one of them. I don’t know him personally, don’t have any affiliate relationship with him, and am not trying to get him to follow me on Twitter. I just like to read his stuff.

Chris wrote about his approach to New Year’s resolutions in this post, instead choosing 3 words that would help him to focus on what’s most important for the year ahead. I like the idea and am still trying to reduce my personal list of keywords to single digits. Meanwhile, I found it easier to create a 3 word list for Loyalty Marketing in 2012 and wanted to share it for your consumption and discussion.

Let me know what your 3 words would be for this year and why you chose them. I’ve started a discussion on our Customer Strategy Network Facebook page and in a few LinkedIn groups where you can participate. If you prefer, just leave comments here on Loyalty Truth.

Data

Loyalty marketers have been collecting customer data since the dawn of the business. To a great extent, that data has been under-utilized and this shortcoming threatens the trusted relationships we have with our customers. Consumer 2.0 is well aware that the portfolio of transaction and personal data that defines self is highly valuable to corporate America. Though we’ve been talking about increased leveraging of data as one of the biggest opportunities in Loyalty Marketing, 2012 might be the year that it happens.

Selecting Data as one of my 3 words for 2012 puts me in pretty strong company as I recently listened to Rupert Duchesne, Chairman of Aimia, speak about Data being the “New Oil”. And, just last week, I read that Foursquare was making public its intent to put its data to work as a tool for growing its business in 2012.

Mobile

The mobile handset has been predicted by many to become the central platform for social shopping and payments. The Google Wallet was announced last year and payment/loyalty plays including Square, Dwolla, and LevelUP seek to change consumer behavior and set a new mold for how we shop and pay.

Banks are pledging to make better use of mobile applications to bring banking products closer to the customer, in the process redefining how we view the retail banking customer experience. Groupon has responded to criticism that it is impotent beyond stimulating customer acquisition and trial and has introduced Groupon Rewards as well as partnering with Foursquare to find synergy in location based marketing and the daily deal.

The convergence of loyalty, payments, and the mobile handset will continue at a faster pace during 2012.

Social

We invested significant time gathering information and creating position papers on Social Loyalty, Social CRM, and Social Shopping during 2011. Clients as well as conference delegates wanted to absorb as much as they could on these topics and the buzz made us question if everything involving “loyalty” and “social” might dissolve away as just the latest marketing fad.

It’s not going to happen. In fact, 2012 will be the year when many brands put their PowerPoint presentations on the shelf and move to implement more social channels into their customer strategies. Consumer 2.0 is making purchase decisions differently than before and will be delighted by elegant ways to locate and evaluate local shopping offers via their mobile device. The social aspect comes in the form of interactions via social shopping networks like Zavee.com or by engagement with game-fueled loyalty programs where referral and recommendations lead visibly to purchase.

Three words that will define Loyalty Marketing in 2012: Data, Mobile and Social. I’m sure you can make an argument for others.

Let’s hear it.

2011 began as a year with loads of promise for Loyalty Marketing. Top of mind for most program managers was the need to add value for members while keeping costs under control, and to better manage the financial liability associated with unredeemed points and miles.

Purchase behaviors exhibited by the Millennial generation were being adopted by broader segments of the population, and early in the year we estimated Consumer 2.0 to represent about half the US population, or 150 Million people.

With the old school orientation of most loyalty marketing strategists, cracking the code of Social Loyalty to engage, entertain and retain the business of Consumer 2.0 was one of the most intimidating challenges faced by the industry over the past 10 years.

So how did the industry fare in 2011 and what’s ahead for 2012?

On the liability management front, the year started out with more rumors floating about than during an American Idol contest. Solutions designed to unify consumer loyalty wallets and create uber currencies, some of which could be redeemed in real time point of sale transactions, as well as those promising unprecedented levels of consumer targeting via internet banking and credit card transactions, were receiving lots of attention. While we still wait to hear more from Free Monee and Swift Exchange, Cardlytics took a big step ahead by closing a $33 Million capital investment from Groupe Aeroplan.

Two highly viable solutions which loyalty marketers should consider not only as liability burn solutions, but as means to to add a new wrinkle to the value proposition are KULA Causes and LoyaltyShares. KULA Causes, which launched in fall 2011, introduced a new concept of Cause Related Loyalty marketing. The “currency of giving” enables loyalty program members to convert miles and points into donations to any of over 2 Million charities around the world. This is a concept which triggers consumer emotions and allows brands to heighten their quotient of corporate social responsibility in a financially efficient manner. LoyaltyShares is equally innovative, allowing loyalty program members to convert miles or points into shares of stock in the sponsoring brand. Converting liabilities into assets is a magic trick that any financially savvy consumer should like.

PointTunes.com and The First Club each introduced solutions that change the way digital content can be obtained by consumers through a rewards program. Improved customer experience and lower costs for program operators are key advantages.

Social Shopping became a reality as Zavee.com and ThanksAgain expanded their respective footprints and delighted consumers in their chosen market segments. Zavee has grown to boast over 500 brick and mortar merchants in their network across South Florida, while Thanks Again penetrated the airport frontier seeking to become a loyalty currency that travelers will aspire to collect before they fly.

“Gamification” took a big step forward during 2011 as both Badgeville and Bunchball proved that “gamification is not a fad”. Watch for much more in this space as game theory moves from a solution designed stimulate consumer engagement to one that can change consumer behavior across a full value chain.

As consumer research consistently supported the desire for immediacy and transparency of rewards along with improved customer experience and proximity to the loyalty “experience”, some important brands proved they were listening.

Early in the year, American Express played the social card as it touted Membership Rewards as a “social currency” and tested location based promotions with Foursquare. More recently, Groupe Aeroplan rebranded as Aimia, signalling a new era of competition among industry leaders.

In a year when many industries slogged along in a mediocre economy, Loyalty Marketers could barely keep up with all the change.

What will 2012 hold in store? I’ll have a look at trends to watch in a future post as the New Year gets started.

Whether transferring funds to a close friend or family member or remitting payment on a business invoice, we’ve all got to deal with the issues of money transfer. Payments are central to our lives and how we pay has cost implications for both the merchants we patronize and our own personal budgets.

Today I’m not only thinking about competition within traditional methods of payment, but also payment methods that come bundled with loyalty and social shopping applications.

Let’s look at the tradition payment space first. Within my network of highly mobile loyalty consultants, the Customer Strategy Network, we are fortunate to share project work and often move money between us as a result. I can remit payment to a colleague internationally via bank wire transfer, PayPal, or by check. Since bank hold policies on foreign checks border on ridiculous, wire transfer and PayPal seem to be the two best options.

One would think that wire transfer fees are more formidable than using PayPal, but interestingly enough, a transfer of  $2,500 from the bank costs $40 while using Paypal rings up a charge of about $157 (nearly 6%) if I link my Paypal account to a credit card, and closer to $75 (3%) if linked to a bank account. Just when we thought the banks were wringing out every last dollar from consumers following passage of the Durbin Amendment, PayPal is revealed to be generally more expensive to use.

Surprised? I was.

Next, consider payment methods tied into loyalty marketing schemes. Dwolla is actually the only one of which I am aware, and the innovative payment/loyalty group charges a fixed fee of $.25 per P2P money transfer or purchase transaction within its merchant network. That charge is normally paid by the payment recipient and doesn’t apply to transfers under $10. This of course would be a game changer in the payments sector, but only if Dwolla can enable payments outside of the US. Current restrictions on maximum transaction amounts are acceptable, but no payments are permitted outside of US borders. For the record, personal payments of $5,000 and business payments of $10,000 are allowed.

If Dwolla has aspirations to challenge PayPal and to become a payments solution beyond US borders, they will have to expand their model. For now, the low cost structure of domestic payments and embedded loyalty offers through the Spots program make Dwolla a better option than PayPal within the US. Using Dwolla Spots to locate merchants who accept the payment method and to be able to shop conveniently with local merchants even if you left your wallet at home is one of the big advantages of the program.

All you need is a GPS enabled Smartphone that allows you to find merchants and you can order and pay for purchases even before you enter the store.Imagine, the barista that not only knows your regular order but also has it waiting piping hot for you as you walk through the door, payment already completed. That’s got the makings of customer engagement and loyalty right there.

One other payment alternative linked to a loyalty program is the prepaid card. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts each have put a prepaid card at the center of their loyalty programs. The downside of this model is that consumers must use the prepaid card for all purchases if they hope to earn loyalty credits. The upside is that Starbucks has added the convenience of being able to pay for purchases with a bar code provided in its mobile application (link) with the amount of purchase debited to the prepaid card account. Again, the convenience of being able to pay even when the wallet has been left at home, is something to consider.

With barcode technology widely available and NFC still needing some sorting, Starbucks has proven that low-tech (barcode) can be combined with high tech (mobile apps) to deliver convenience and to contribute to customer loyalty. The convergence of payment, mobile handsets and loyalty applications is not a concept on a PowerPoint slide anymore. It’s here before us, and becoming more of a reality every day.

Loyalty marketing is about much more than “marketing”. The essence of influencing consumer behavior has its nexus at the intersection of marketing, payments and technology. If Hanifin Loyalty had a business address that was indicative of focus rather than where we receive our mail, it would be at that interesting little corner of commerce.

As smartphone penetration increases across Consumer 2.0 (nearly half of the US population) and as new payment technologies continue to emerge as challenges to the legacy payments networks (principally Visa and MasterCard), the way consumers shop will change dramatically.

The famous tagline from American Express “don’t leave home without it” referred to their own portfolio of credit cards. The new moniker that will catch the attention of consumers might be something closer to “leave everything at home except your phone”. Lousy copy-writing, I agree, but at the least, the thing we can’t leave home without will be transformed from a plastic card to a mobile handset.

LevelUp is a reasonably new market entry that combines a network of local merchants with a smartphone enabled payment device that seeks to add speed and convenience to the consumer shopping experience while offering rewards to consumers who play the game. The first three markets opened up include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

Signing up for a LevelUp account gets the user a personalized QR code like the one shown in the graphic to the right. The QR code can be displayed at participating merchant locations to complete a purchase transaction.Merchants participating in the program offer rewards for first time visitors (for example $10 off purchase of $50 or more) and receive subsequent offers as they continue to shop within the network.

Users are required to register a credit card with their LevelUp account and payments made using the QR code are charged to the affiliated card. That points to a conundrum in this concept – the card is not eliminated, only pushed to the background and not physically required to be presented at the time of purchase. In other words, its not really an alternate payment system, unless we agree to redefine that term. On the plus side, LevelUp members can “double-dip” as they earn whatever rewards are offered by LevelUp merchants in addition to those from a rewards card linked to their account.

LevelUp is something that Foursquare could have built as an enhancement but has not done to date. I’ve read recently that the future of pure location based check-in systems like Foursquare is dim. All I can say is that they may have missed a huge opportunity if this is true. Foursquare was there first but never gave merchants the tools needed to really turn the system into a marketing channel nor added payment or other features.

Dwolla is another location based system that offers an alternative payment method, but in their case they truly offer an alternative to credit cards. I’ve done a comparison of several social shopping methods and will have a report for you next week or so. Meanwhile, give thought to whether the future of social shopping lies in registered card models, smartphone enabled payment methods, or channels using ACH that are low cost but still hard to understand for some people.

One aspect of social loyalty that seems clear is that the value proposition will certainly go beyond points. In fact points may be the third or fourth element of the value proposition behind mobility, payment methods and offers which are instantly redeemable. Throw in the increasing importance of recognition and status within online communities and we might see “Whuffie” become an alternate online currency.

The only thing we know about this changing loyalty market is that it is sure to continue to change.

The loyalty marketing landscape is changing – quickly and dramatically. Social Loyalty is a new concept to be understood and embraced.

Millennial marketing is a focus of Social Loyalty and I occasionally see posts about whether Generation Y (Millennials) can or will give their loyalty over a sustainable time period to any brand. Based on our study of Millennial behavior and backed up by recently published  research from Aimia on US and UK Millennials, we know that loyalty can be won, but not through traditional tactics.

One of the talked about tools to drive loyalty among Millennials is “Gamification”. The question is, how does game theory relate to loyalty marketing and how can it be applied in practice to get results, not just with Millennials, group but across the broader population segment known as Consumer 2.0?

I’m proud to be presenting “The New Face of Customer Loyalty: How to Engage and Motivate Customers in the Social Era” with a leader in the social loyalty space, Badgeville. The webinar will take place Tuesday December 6, 10am PST / 1pm EST and I urge you to register here to become part of the discussion.

Badgeville was recently selected to be part of Forrester’s annual list of social platforms for enterprise technology marketing in its report “Market Overview: 2011 Social Media Platforms For B2B Tech Marketing.” You can read more about that honor here.

There is a tremendous opportunity for leadership in this new world of loyalty marketing and I’m proud to be presenting tomorrow with Havy Nguyen from the Badgeville team to explore some of the possibilities.

Register here for this webinar and bring your tough questions about the future of Loyalty Marketing and Gamification to the event tomorrow.

“You are receiving this message because you sent me an email on either a Saturday or Sunday. Between Monday – Friday, we deliver good value to clients and generally outperform anyone we compete with. We also place high priority on our faith and our family and treasure 8 hours of sleep on at least 2 nights per week. We value your relationship and will respond to your message bright and chipper on Monday morning.”

That’s the out-of-office message that I have been considering placing on my inbox during the weekend. I imagine that its impact would be equally divisive as Tim Tebow currently is in the NFL. Some would quietly close their laptop and feel liberated to spend more time with their family over the weekend. Others would perceive my message as self-righteous or think I had gone wacky.

There’s a bigger thought to be shared here. In an always-on, always-connected world that increasingly treats instant gratification as table stakes, it is becoming truly challenging to engage people with messages that require more than a glancing read. USA Today conditioned the populous to seek news in snippets and now video is in high demand as many don’t even want to read, they want to listen to a message while they sip coffee, check email, and update their to-do lists in Evernote.

Old-school business machismo was represented by the corner office and liberal expense accounts. Today, the appearance of being ever vigilant over our digital empires and responding to inquiries with minimal latency is the source of business fist-pumping.

Given the tendency of business people to make the energizer bunny seem a slacker, it should not be a surprise that we have difficulty engaging customers to open our emails, sign up for our member clubs and trigger them into action with 2 for 1 offers on Wednesday afternoon.

If there was ever a time to replace activity and noise with transparency and trust, it is now. The more we stand under the information waterfall striving to absorb as much as we can and stay ahead of the information game, the more we are at risk of eroding our ability to form solid thoughts and create practical solutions for our business.

I’m all for meeting deadlines, over-delivering, and breaking new ground. That’s not in question here. What is becoming a nasty little habit for many business people is buying into the notion that we have to be everywhere, communicate in every channel, and never slow the cadence enough to hear what’s around us.

The noise we just might be missing is the voice of our clients and our customers. Marketers need to listen more, temper the cadence of communications and make greater impact with less impressions. I don’t want another solicitation letter from Southwest Airlines offering me their co-brand credit card. I have already put one per month in the shredder for the past 12 months. I do want to receive just one survey asking me about my favorite destinations, my hobbies and my opinion about what could improve their cabin service. That would make me feel more like they care about me and, depending on what they did with my survey response, would influence my next choice of airline.

You probably won’t see that out-of-office message from me any time soon. My Smartphone represents too great a temptation to respond to emails in the moment, and my natural desire to serve those who trust me makes clamming up until Monday just a quaint thought.

Still, I know that customers are out there talking. And I plan to listen. How about you?