We live in an information-driven society. Information provides the building blocks on which knowledge is built. Today, knowledge is the real currency of business, the stimulus that drives our economy and therefore our livelihood.

Two of the most revered thinkers of the last 100 years, Peter Drucker and Philip Kotler, were clear in their characterization of the contemporary business environment. In other words, we now live in a knowledge society.

Peter Drucker noted this transformation in his book The Post Capitalist Society, exhorting: “That knowledge has become the resource, rather than a resource. Furthermore, “This fact fundamentally changes the structure of society.”

According to Kotler, “the shift from an industrial economy to an information economy is introducing new considerations that question the adequacy of conventional marketing thinking in developing the marketing strategies of today and tomorrow.”

Why Edumarketing?

The last ten years have seen tremendous tumult in the field of marketing. We live in a media-rich world where information bombards us from every angle. In his compelling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini states, “You and I exist in an extraordinarily complicated stimulus environment, easily the most complex and fastest moving ever to exist on this planet.”

These views aptly describe the world we live in, where information and knowledge are fundamental to our existence. The advent of computers, the Internet, wireless communication, and other technologies are presenting new opportunities for marketers.

One area is partnering with customers, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer, to create a learning experience where the customer learns to both better define their problem and best solve it.

In this new reality, it is the customer who, for the most part, runs the show.

Customers are using technology to learn about the company behind the product and services they buy, as well as dissect each element of the product through self-education, and that fundamentally changes everything.

Capturing the customer’s attention is no longer possible simply by putting your message “out there.” An emphasis on knowledge creation calls for bold changes.

What has to change? The way you communicate.

The fast pace of today’s marketplace, whatever your industry, has changed the way customers want to do business. Marketing has become less about messaging people and more about empowering them to make informed buying decisions.

Rather than engage in a manipulation process, marketing communicators should seek to inform and educate potential customers, giving them the insight and information they need to make an intelligent decision. Doing this is the new way to retain customers.

This document discusses a new approach to understanding and influencing the customer through communications that inform and influence. This method is called edumarketing.

Edumarketing is the activity initiated by a company that is designed to influence changes in the knowledge, skills or attitudes of customers, whether individuals, groups or communities.

Cognitive psychology, and in particular research dealing with how people learn, tells us that people use perceptual filters and existing mental representations when making decisions.

Numerous studies verify that thinking involves three constructive elements, which together drive the way people learn. These elements are cognition, emotion, and the context in which thought occurs.

Edumarketing emphasizes influencing the path to purchase through education-based marketing that informs, instructs, and educates. Weaving together the cognitive, emotional and social components of learning.

Today, your customers are likely to hold you to very high standards when it comes to providing them with the data and information they need to create knowledge and understanding. Ultimately helping them make the best purchase possible.

Education-based marketing, edumarketing, provides an opportunity for the marketing communicator to connect with customers in a focused way that delivers high perceived value. Rather than overwhelm people with a self-inflating message, the marketing communicator presents an educational foundation to help the customer find the right solution to their idiosyncratic problem. And this changes the way you create and exchange messages about your products and services.

How does it work?

The primary task of marketing communicators has become as much that of an educator as of an informer and entertainer. Certainly a lot of consumer products will continue down the path of least resistance, that is, simply to entertain in the hope of building brand image or manipulating unique sales.

However, what is quickly becoming a prominent part of the salesperson’s toolkit is the use of educational techniques to help build loyalty that results in sales.

Take, for example, the ordinary cereal box. Cheerios adorns its box with its educational “Heart Healthy” messages. Cheerios uses the cereal box to educate customers on the topic of cholesterol and, of course, how Cheerios can be a part of cholesterol reduction.

This new marketing approach is based on educating the customer, and for that different marketing principles are applied. The new marketer must understand the principles of learning and for sophisticated products and services, understand this… learning theory.

As another example, the small manufacturer of industrial detergents ChemStation (www.chemstation.com) supplies thousands of products in hundreds of industries. ChemStation sells industrial cleaning chemicals to a wide variety of commercial customers, from car washes to the US Air Force. Whether a customer is washing a fleet or factory, store or restaurant, ChemStation offers the adequate cleaning solution at all times.

ChemStation partners with customers who work with them to design custom solutions for their unique cleaning problems. ChemStation works with each individual customer to invent a specially designed soap formula for that customer.

This works because many commercial buyers prefer to buy a packaged solution to a problem from a single vendor. ChemStation sells its brainpower to companies that need solutions.

Another company that stands out in the field of edumarketing is Butterball, a leader in marketing and selling turkeys. Customers can visit Butterball’s website (www.butterball.com) for information on how to cook and carve a turkey.

Butterball’s website receives more than 500,000 visitors during Thanksgiving week who access its features and timely tips. However, the dedication to education is found in the fact that the Butterball Helpline (1-800-BUTTTERBALL) is staffed by 50 home economists and nutritionists who answer more than 100,000 questions each November and December.

BMW has capitalized on its edumarketing capabilities. They offer an interesting training program for young drivers. As part of its “Ultimate Driving Experience” tour, BMW offers to teach people how to drive their cars – at high speeds! The offer: “Experienced professional drivers will be on hand to guide you through a variety of exciting driving techniques designed to hone your skills and make you a safer, more confident driver.” ready to strike up a conversation about how to integrate these capabilities into your daily driving habits.

Gone are the days when advertisers could simply tell the world about their wonderful new product or service. Today’s customers are smart. They have access to and use information from a wide range of sources. Companies need to go beyond the simple show and tell of yesteryear.