Marketing Communication: Radical or Rational Change?

This chapter elaborates the use of scenario planning to address the potential changes in marketing communication. Technology has commonly been one of the primary generators of change in marketing and marketing communication. Various technological changes provided the impetus for the transportation models that enabled newspapers and magazines to transition from purely local to regional and then to national media forms. Marketing communication is controlled, in terms of amount and content, by the marketing organization. It is found that the marketer is free to develop and distribute communication through almost any media form and in almost any volume desired or available. This is done through financial allocations. Consumers have little or no input into the distribution of messages. The media organization gathers audiences through content development. Marketers are then rented exposure to these audiences by the media owner.