The New Marketing Clichés

For some time now, what we read and hear has not only been repetitive, but at times bordering on the absurd and devoid of substance.   It is true that the new innovation bubble has fostered the emergence of mediocre narratives laden with buzzwords and a certain media impact, leading us marketing professionals to think, at the very least, that we are becoming somewhat slow on the uptake (not to say dim-witted). Here are some of the clichés that grate on me, both because of their message or justification and because of how often they reach me.

Something is changing

Of course, as always... life goes on because seconds pass, and it would be a bad thing if that were not the case and, as the minutes go by, everything around us stopped changing. Perhaps many tourism businesses are resisting that change, or accepting that they themselves are changing too.

The New Customer

I have to admit I like this one: the New Customer, as if we had a different one now. What is going on? Surely... aren't the customers we have now good enough for us? Where are these new customers?

We live in a hyper-competitive world

Of course, as it has always been. I do not think anyone has had it easy up to now. It is true that some say that, in the past, filling a hotel simply meant opening the doors; demand was plentiful, so nobody had to worry about finding customers. But isn't hyper-competitiveness the normal state of any business? I rather think that what was not normal was what had been happening until now.

Customer expectations have increased

Of course, customers used to settle for anything. You gave them awful service, charged them a fortune, and not only did they not complain, they kept coming back. Honestly...

The new marketing

This is a good one. Nothing we knew is of any use now. What we learned from Kotler, Drucker, Ackoff, etc. is no longer valid. Did those old-timers not take into account the more creative side of marketing and social networks, where low-cost marketing can now be done without taking the customer into account? I do not expect you, dear reader, to agree with me; indeed, it is even likely that this disagreement will spark a debate that enlightens me. We are certainly surrounded by a tide of concepts and lofty phrases that leave us adrift in a sea of confusion, when in reality things are simpler than all this. Open your eyes; do not be swept away by the storm of ideas that floods us every day. It is true that things change, as they always have. Look at your customers, learn from them, and you will see that in reality everything is easier than we are told