I never thought I would see it but corporations are showing courage and being responsible. By dropping their advertising spend on a number of news channels they are making news directors and publishers think twice about what messages and news stories they will promote.

Even more encouraging are the actions of a number of social media companies in acting to shut down the accounts of individuals and organizations who are dedicated to inflammatory statements.

In my teaching I have found that young consumers are more concerned with what a company stands for rather than what they are selling. Now more than ever a company logo makes a statement about the buyer and the seller. In marketing we talk about establishing and developing a profitable and productive seller/buyer relationship. This aspect of marketing and advertising is more important than ever right now.

Listening to or reading a certain news source says volumes about the user. Wearing a specific apparel tells the world the wearer’s views on everything from global warming to race relations.

Companies are learning that is important to not only stand behind their product but stand behind a specific issue or cause as well.

The days of sheep-like consumers are over. With so many information-gathering sources the buyer of today is smarter and better informed than ever. The consumer of today is looking for something more from a brand a company than the usual benefit we have all been selling for decades.

We can analyze the metrics. Mull over the media choices. Evaluate the ROI. Dig into every detail and specific of every marketing penny spent. But at the end of the day the decision to buy or not is in the hands of the consumer and today’s consumer has more power at their disposal than ever.

Where marketing goes from here is going to be my topic for 2021.

Can the consumer trust companies and their messages any longer? Many corporations made a good start in restoring trust with the actions taken this week. Let’s see where we go from here.

What do you think should be done?