Many times, the best information about marketing comes not from industry trade publications or business books. It comes from the Science Times section of the New York Times. This week, a short piece appeared about one of my favorite subjects, the honey bee waggle dance (see my previous post, "Want to Create Buzz?..."), which has sparked books and a myriad of fascinating articles about swarm theory and social interaction.
The more we watch the bees, the more we learn about our own behavior, and yes, marketing. The article, "Efforts of Dancing Bees Are Often Wasted on Distracted Audience" explains that often, when a bee dances to alert his hive mates of a hot new food source, some of the bees ignore the information. Instead of going to the new location for food, they go back to their favorite restaurant (or flower patch, in this case). These bees rely on their own memory of where to find food, though other bees that are new to the hive do respond to the waggle dance and seek out the new food source.
To bring this to human terms, it works like this: Let's assume I go to a new Chinese restaurant and it's fantastic. The best I've ever had. As I leave the restaurant, I run into two of my friends on the street. One of them is new in town, the other has lived here for a while. I start raving about the restaurant. I point to it. I let them smell the leftovers in my doggie back. I jump up and down and tell them that they have to try it. The friend who's new in town thanks me and head's straight to the restaurant. The other friend who's lived here for a while remarks that Chinese food sounds good, and then heads to her favorite Chinese place that she always goes to, not the new one I'm recommending.
In other words, old habits are hard to break. If a new, fantastic search engine came out tomorrow, most of us would still use Google. I know there are some great new restaurants in town, but I still go to my familiar favorites.
Despite the power of word of mouth recommendations, those receiving information about new products and services have to be receptive to the information. In other words, they have to be "in the market" to be persuaded.
The lesson for marketers: While you're worrying about how to create buzz and get new customers, it's equally important to worry about how to become habit forming to those customers you already have. If you do it right, buzz about your competitors will drive them straight back to you.
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