A holistic approach to marketing

 Discuss these questions.

 What types of advertising do you like and dislike? What irritates and
amuses you?
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 How do you avoid advertising you don't want, e.g. TV ads, pop-ups, spam,
etc.?
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 More people today have broadband and smart phones. How do you think
these developments are affecting:

Companies' marketing strategies?

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The work of advertising agencies?

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 The case for holistic marketing

By Gary Silverman

In big companies, marketing departments are adopting 'holistic marketing' – a

term that expresses the growing desire of companies to use a greater variety of
marketing methods to communicate with their customers. The move into holistic
A marketing reflects two developments. Companies are losing confidence in
television commercials. They are also are growing more interested in the Internet
and other alternative ways of advertising.

Technological advances are giving consumers the power to avoid advertising. For
example, DVDs are making it easier for people to record programmes and fast-
B forward past television commercials, while software helps them block Internet
pop-up advertisements and unwanted e-mails.

Marketers have responded in two

ways. They are looking for new
places to put advertisements, such
as ads on displays on bus shelters or
on mobile phone screens. And they

C are beginning to see any contact

with a consumer as a marketing
opportunity. The idea is to engage
the customer wherever the
customer happens to be - a holistic
approach to marketing, in other
words.

As a result, advertising agencies are not just thinking about television commercials
these days. They are trying to figure out ways to give a better customer experience;
for example, how staff should answer the telephone when customers call to ask for
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information or make a complaint. They are also looking for ways to make the
shopping experience more interesting, and bring new excitement and innovation
to product packaging and store display.

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 Although many marketers see the advantages of a holistic approach to their
E marketing, many may be slow to adopt it because of practical complications.

Money for marketing comes from marketing budgets. But in the new world of
holistic marketing, the lines between marketing and other business activities are
blurring. In addition to marketing, other departments in a company also have a
F role, which makes allocating marketing budgets difficult. A website, for instance,
could be seen as a form of Internet advertising, but websites also function as virtual
stores. So money for building a site could equally go to a marketing or product
development department distribuir

To make the situation more complicated, companies are finding it difficult to

compare the impact of new kinds of marketing activity. In holistic marketing,
G advertisers are no longer interested in simply reaching customers, but in engaging
them. The challenge is how to measure the impact of marketing messages – how
well customers are paying attention to their marketing messages.

There are companies working with measurement tools that help with this task, but
until there is general acceptance of these tools, companies may find it difficult to
H justify any change in how they allocate marketing budgets. 'With some new media,
it is much more difficult to put these budgets together.' says Alan Rutherford,
Global Media Director at Uniliver.

 UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN POINTS. Read the article below and answer
these questions.

 After reading the article, can you summarise what 'holistic marketing' is?
Compare your ideas with other student

Holistic marketing is an approach that uses multiple methods and touchpoints to

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engage customers. It treats every interaction with the customer as an opportunity to
reinforce the brand and enhance their experience.
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 What two factors have made companies interested in this new approach to
marketing?
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Loss of confidence in traditional TV advertising.
Increased interest in the Internet and alternative advertising methods
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 Why isn't traditional TV and Internet advertising as effective as before?

echnological advances: Tools like ad blockers and devices to skip

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commercials.
Changing consumer habits: People prefer more interactive and
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personalized content.

 Marketers have reacted to this trend in two ways. What are they?

Placing ads in unconventional spaces, like bus shelters and mobile

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phones.
Viewing every customer interaction, from calls to in-store visits, as a
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marketing opportunity.

 How has a more holistic way of looking at advertising changed the way
advertising agencies work?

Focus on improving customer experience, including service and

shopping.
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Collaboration across departments to integrate marketing into all
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aspects of the business.

 According to the writer, many companies will be slow to move to holistic

marketing. Why is this? Choose two explanations:

a) Holistic marketing can involve several departments, which makes

managing marketing budgets very complex.
b) They see holistic marketing as a fashion that will pass.
c) There is a lack of accepted tools for measuring the effectiveness of
new marketing activities.
d) Most advertising agencies don't yet have the right skills and
expertise.

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  UNDERSTANDING DETAILS. Read the article again and answer these
questions.

1. The writer gives an example of how consumers are avoiding advertising on

the television. What is it?
Consumers use DVDs or streaming devices to
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record programs and fast-forward through
television commercials.
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2. The writer gives two examples of alternative places where advertisers can
put advertisements. What are they?
Advertisers are placing
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ads on displays at bus
shelters and on mobile
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phone screens.

3. What example does the writer use to illustrate how advertising agencies
can give customers a better experience?
The writer mentions
improving how staff
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answer phone calls
when customers seek
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information or make
complaints.
4. According to the writer, holistic marketing will make allocating marketing
budgets more difficult. What example does he give to illustrate this point?

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The example given is a
company website,
which could be seen as
both Internet
advertising and a
virtual store, making it
unclear whether the
budget should come
from marketing or
product development
departments.

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 UNDERSTANDING EXPRESSIONS. Choose the best explanation for each
phrase from the article.

1. ‘Companies are losing confidence in television commercials’

a) They don't think that TV adverts are as good as before.

b) They no longer believe that TV adverts produce good results

2. ‘… engage the customer…’

a) Get the interest of the customer and keep it.

b) Have more conversations with the customer.

3. ‘… the lines between marketing and other business activities are blurring’

a) The differences between marketing and other business activities are

less clear.
b) There is a big difference between marketing and other business
activities.

 WORD SEARCH. Find words or phrases in the article which match these
meanings.

1. starting to do something new (paragraph A)

2. thinking about the whole of something, not just dealing with particular aspect
(paragraph A)
3. improvements (paragraph B)
4. try to prevent something from happening (paragraph B)
5. stop something happening completely (paragraph B)
6. possibility (paragraph C)
7. think about a problem until you have a solution (paragraph D)

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8. plans showing the money available (paragraph F)
9. giving someone their share of the total amount (paragraph F)
10. give a good reason for something (paragraph H)

 Find two other words in the article with the same meanings as
advertisement:

1. ________________________________
2. ________________________________

 WORD PARTNERSHIPS. Match these words to make noun-noun

partnerships from the article.

1. Holistic a) Commercials
2. Television b) Marketing
3. Marketing c) Advertising
4. Customer d) Activity
5. Internet e) Agencies
6. Advertising f) Experience

 Find five other noun-noun

partnerships starting with the word
marketing (paragraphs A, C, F and G).

1. ________________________________

2. ________________________________

3. ________________________________

4. ________________________________

5. ________________________________

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 The writer illustrates some of his points with practical examples.
Complete the three phrases he uses to introduce them.

1. __________________________ ,DVDs are making it easier to record

programmes ...

2. They are looking for new places to put advertisements,

__________________________ ads on displays on bus shelters...

3. A website, __________________________, could be seen as a form of Internet

advertising, ...

 SENTENCE COMPLETION. Use the words and phrases from the previous
exercises (word partnerships) to complete these sentences:

(1) C______________e____________ is central

to a new approach to marketing,

known as (2)

h____________m______________. Marketers

and (3) a______________a____________ are

looking for exciting new ways of

engaging the customers, using a mix of

new media and (4)

m___________m_______________. Even

companies with small (5)

m____________b______________ can do a lot.

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 Use the prepositions in the box to complete these sentence.

in in of to with

1. There is growing interest _________________ Internet advertising.

2. Companies have lost confidence _________________ television advertising.

3. More and more companies see the advantage _________________ a more holistic

approach.

4. Marketers need to view any contact _________________ customers as a

marketing opportunity.