E-Marketing- Friend or Foe?

In one article, "From Print, to Phone, to Web And a Sale?" the author describes how many magazine publishers are including bar codes in advertisements so that consumers can simply take a picture of the bar code with their smartphone and they will be directly brought to the website in which this product is being sold. This will be a completely revolutionizing idea that I am sure we will see many people using in the next few years. Although the concept did not work several years ago, the ubiquity of smartphones and internet bases cell phones is making it easier and easier for customers to access these websites.

I think that this is a very good idea and makes it easier for a company to focus on the product variable of the marketing mix (since a customer can view the specs of the product online) and the promotion variable (as the customer is being exposed to the product both online and in print). One potential problem with this system, however, is that not everyone owns a smartphone, and even if they do, they may not have the proper software to take advantage of the bar codes. Another possible concern is the increasing use of the internet for marketing, and the slowly disappearing distribution of print media. Many people no longer buy magazines, newspapers, catalogs, etc. because everything that is published in these print media can be viewed online. Even with the bar code scanning system, the push is to move everyone into an electronic medium.

I am sure that very soon e-marketing will almost completely replace traditional forms of marketing (snail mail, phone calls, etc.). As many marketers focus almost solely on e-marketing, the print ads and traditional forms of marketing will begin to disappear as companies will focus most of their time, energy, and capital in the electronic market. But regardless of how many time and energy is put into e-marketing, snail mail will always be present-and for a good reason. When a consumer receives a letter in the mail or an advertisement, they have no choice but to look at it (even if just for a brief second) and therefore have seen an advertisement. When looking at a webpage, it can become quite easy to completely ignore or not even see some advertisements because you may have to scroll down to see them, or you only focus on the main content of the webpage. Also, in a book I read recently called "Appreciation Marketing," the book describes that many consumers want to have a relationship with a company and that they enjoy a human touch. The more personalized form of phone calls, snail mail, etc. creates more of this personal touch, rather than just a generic banner on a webpage.

So, although we will see a large push towards e-marketing through bar codes, banners on web pages, and the ubiquity of the online marketplace, I doubt that traditional forms of marketing will ever cease to exist. Do you agree that these traditional forms of marketing should be kept in place? What other problems to you think of in the advent of e-marketing? Do you think appreciation marketing really works?