Gone are the days of Michael Porter’s ‘Five Forces Frameworks’ where the attractiveness of industries was solely based on their profitability and where the Four P’s of the ‘Marketing Mix’ – Product, Price, Place, Promotion – reigned strong. Even the well-cited Seven C’s of branding – Customer, Consistency, Creativity, Culture, Communication, Change, Channel – is beginning to look a little worse for wear. Though the underlying principles of these theories and frameworks maintain some relevance today, they simply do not cut the mustard in a world which is characterised by continual change. How could they?
In business today, we need theories, frameworks, and systems that are far more dynamic, resilient, and adaptive to change. Unless they can keep up with all those shiny new social media platforms, deep technological advancements, and a constantly evolving virtual marketplace, they are most likely as doomed as the dodo.
Porters and other business pioneers of the past would have a hard time envisioning the state of branding, marketing, and communication today. Aside from the sheer number of channels that need to be monitored and managed, the process through which businesses reach their customers has radically changed. From guerilla marketing to growth hacking to the advent of the “influencer, digitalisation has transformed this field entirely.
