Don't bug your customers with millennium marketing overkill

By Karyn Scherer


Sick of hearing about the new millennium yet? From millennium bugs to TV's millennium moments, it's getting increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that the end of the 20th century is nigh, and a whole new epoch is about to stretch before us.

It's not just the media that is fascinated by the fact that time's annual odometer is about to flick over all four numbers at once. For many other companies with products to sell, the millennium is an irresistible marketing tool.

American marketing expert James Rosenfield is one of several business gurus who is making at least part of his living out of advising companies how to cash in on this once-in-a-thousand-year event.

In New Zealand this week for yet another of his sold-out seminars, the San Diego-based consultant was happy to share his thoughts, which can also be found on their very own website (www.millennialfever.com).

For what it's worth (and he counts companies like AT&T, Citibank and General Motors among his clients), Rosenfield believes most companies should not even bother trying to link their products with the millennium celebration unless there is a logical fit, such as a watch-maker or champagne house.

Or maybe an airline. He counts several major airlines among his clients, including Air New Zealand (which is already, you might note, boasting about flying us "from this millennium to the next"). But even then, it pays to be subtle, he warns. Consumers, he believes, are already sick of hearing about "the insurance company for the 21st century" or "the car for the new millennium".

"Some man in the US has a new millennial toothbrush. Well that's just silly and contrived," he laughs. "It's totally tiresome already. Don't do it - it makes people's eyes glaze over."

What he does suggest is that companies pay close attention to some of the underlying trends that inevitably accompany the end of any century.

One of the most obvious is consumers' fear of the future, which is already prompting a hankering for the way things used to be.

"If you've been in business for a long time, and you have a story to tell of stability and trust, it's a great time to invoke your heritage, particularly in New Zealand with so many traditional companies being taken over by overseas companies," he says.

For younger companies that would prefer to stress their links with the future, it is important to paint the horizon as a warm and friendly place, he warns. As an example of how not to do it, he mentions the "creepy" commercials for American telecommunications company MCI, which did not screen in New Zealand, but featured our own Anna Paquin.

"As soon as you start talking about the future using too much high-tech imagery, and too much space-age stuff, you make everyone, except the very young and high-tech males, very uncomfortable."

The time has never been better to use those old favourites, animals and sports, in advertising, he suggests. In fact, reassurance should be a major theme in any company's marketing plan right now - particularly those that could be affected by the Y2K "bug". It is imperative for companies to keep their customers informed about their progress with the problem, says Rosenfield.

"There are two essential things: be honest and be reassuring. The companies that will get into trouble are the companies that are dishonest, and that overstate their degree of compliance, and the companies that are not psychologically astute enough to be reassuring."

The other major insecurity consumers have at the end of the 20th century is their distrust of large multi-nationals. A decade of mega-mergers has not convinced many consumers that bigger is not necessarily better and if you're part of a large company, it is wise to localise, says Rosenfield.

Database marketing is a particularly useful way of making consumers feel special, he says. "By using your database properly, you can focus on smaller segments." Another natural by-product of millennium madness is the proliferation of countdowns and lists. A favourite of the media, lists are useful in marketing because they promise consumers a finite and controllable package, he says.

Being a marketing expert, he refers to the technique as "enumerated specificity". What he means is panting-by-numbers: "seven reasons to do business with the ASB Bank., for example". Or in other words, in the age of information overload, it helps to communicate with your customers in bite-sized chunks that can be easily digested. "People are very responsive to that," he enthuses.

Of course, most of this advice comes with a use-by date. By January 2, 2000, most of us will be so sick of hearing about this somewhat arbitrary time-marker, that the very word "millennium" will be used as a cure for insomnia. It might seem obvious, but those thinking of producing souvenirs need to be mindful that interest is likely to be brief, he says. "There's going to be a very narrow window for this sort of thing. December 1999 will be the window where that kind of device might prompt some sales, but you'd better sell all of it then."

Which brings us to another problem: once the hangover from the New Year's Party Of All Time wears off, and we realise the cowardly new world is exactly the same as the cowardly old world, just slightly more stale, we could be in for a bit of anti-climactic depression. As has happened when previous centuries have ended,
Rosenfield expects the 20th century will quickly become deeply uncool and discredited. It is only recently, he notes, that the 19th century has stopped getting a bad press.

"Be prepared to turn on a dime once we start getting into the year 2000, because the 20th century for some time will be a metaphor for bad things."

The only exception to this rule is likely to be what he calls "icon markers". In other words, we will not be able to help ourselves from comparing icons of the 21st century to those of the 20th century, such as "the Michael Jordan of the 21st century", or "the Muldoon of the 21st century."

The only thing for it, it seems, is to take the advice of the pop star formerly known as a prat and party like it's 1999. You're sick of that one, too? Guess what - there's at least eight more months to go. Or 20, in fact, if you can really count.