Relationship Marketing: Positioning for the Future

This year, almost 4 million expectant mothers will receive personalized letters about infant care from a disposable diaper manufacturer. A leading manufacturer of hair coloring products will send trial samples to regular users of competing brands. And at supermarkets across the country, shoppers will watch personalized advertisements for cookies, toothpaste, and coffee at checkout counters equipped with video screens. In these instances and countless others, advertisers are finding new ways to communicate with their customers that capitalize on and leverage the long-term relationship between the advertiser and consumer.