You know a company has become famous when its name ceases to be a proper noun – Xerox, Kleenex, other X names I haven’t thought of yet. Google’s one-upped all of these companies – its name has become a verb. Google’s presentation, operation, and mentality have become a part of social consciousness, and it wouldn’t be surprising if other companies would follow suit. So, what would it look like if other companies radically adhered to Google’s philosophies? How would this affect the way they market and the way we shop? After researching Google’s methods of operation, I have brainstormed some changes we might expect to see in the future.
The first aspect that a marketing company might adopt is Google’s emphasis on the opinions of all customers. Google searches aren’t organized by top paying advertisers, or most official website, or sometimes, even the most relevant fit for the term you’ve entered. No, it’s the most popular links. Millions of people accessing the websites determine which will rise to the top of the search. One of Google’s philosophies is that “Democracy on the web works”. Imagine if that kind of democracy took over marketing. Suddenly, shelf space wouldn’t be about companies elbowing their way to the center or top, it would be about calculating what people actually want and making that accessible to them. Advertising would probably become more personalized, the same way that Google ads correspond to your search term. All in all, advertising would be less about convincing people they want something they didn’t know they wanted and more about informing people about what options were available to them according to what they needed. I also see this focus on “democratic marketing” increasing the influence of user reviews and ratings. Word of mouth has always been big – under Google, it will just get bigger. It will be less about celebrity endorsements or impressive statistics and more about having satisfied people reporting that the product is legitimate. Think the reviews on Amazon Books. Now apply that to buying peanut butter or toothpaste. (And yes, there are people out there who have very strong opinions on different brands of peanut butter. You just have to look a little harder to find them.)
The second change I foresee in marketing is increased efficiency through increased simplicity. For an illustration of this simplicity, just look at the Google homepage. When stating their philosophy, Google jokes that they “may be the only people in the world who can say our goal is to have people leave our homepage as quickly as possible.” 70 percent of the page is simply white space. I never even really realized that the “about Google” button was even there until I looked for it. No, the homepage is dominated by two things – the Google logo and the search box. The brand and the function. Nothing fancy or elaborate, no smoke and mirrors to jazz up the product. Rather companies will depend on the recognition of their brand and the evident efficiency of their product. Another company that adheres to this type of advertising is Apple Products. Do Apple stores even have a name at the front? No, they just have a giant Apple logo. And everyone still knows where to go to buy an iPod. There’s something very attractive about simplicity. Will it work for all companies to try this? Probably not – it’ll seem gimmicky after a time. But I do predict an increase in simplicity, similar to Google’s easy-to-understand design for both its homepage and its search engine.
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