Have marketing methods really evolved? Do we do things better than before? Or have these methods simply sort of adapted to new media?

The biggest change in marketing since the invention of the focus group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group has come about with the ability for marketers to be responsive to the context of the audience:

• Attitudinal context: the mindset of the audience upon contact
• Physical context: what is the audience doing and where are they when they are being interacted with
• Relational context: how will the audience relate to what we’re presenting

Five impacts that should have made marketers as we knew them extinct:

1. Interactivity means no end to any program
2. Execution means nothing compared with performance
3. Your brand is your customers
4. You’ve lost control
5. Research used to be ok, but now it’s all about listening.

More to come on this and its impacts.