For the last twenty years, the marketing communications industry has been striving to establish a “dialogue” with “the customer”. That objective was the foundation for “Maxi-Marketing”, “database marketing”, “relationship marketing”, and most recently, “1-to-1” marketing. In it is embodied the idea of communicating directly to a specific customer with information directly relevant to their buying circumstances.
The world is more complex today. We believe the modern foundation of every marketing communications program is the 3-C’s;
The channel has gained tremendous power and influence in the last decade. Often, the channel will declare ownership of the customer relationship. There are many cases where the customer feels more allegiance to the channel than to the company. This adds another layer of complexity to the marketing communications challenge. And, it adds another entire layer and set of variables to the marketing communications process.
To be really effective, all three “corners” of this triangle have to know what the other “corners” are doing and saying. All three parties should be communicating regularly and frequently. It’s a dialogue between three parties or a trialogue! It’s in the dictionary. Check it out for yourself!
