Is the relationship between advertisers and consumers hitting a rough patch? As any good marriage counselor will tell you the root to a good marriage is communication, communication, communication.

With the introduction of Web 2.0 and social media, we have entered an age where the old methods traditionally used to define and place consumers in the appropriate demographic is increasingly becoming obsolete.The introduction of newer technologies has seen the well known ‘tick-a- box consumer’ of old evolve into a more sophisticated, computer savvy demanding breed .

Consequently, the use of these technologies has had a dramatic effect on how advertisers and audiences interact with one another. An effect, which we as advertisers need to take on board. We need to start opening dialogues with our consumer. This is because if there is little or no satisfaction, the’new breed’  will be direct in telling us so and will more often than not give us suggestions for improvement,on both our products and absolutely on our ability to communicate. We need to make sure there is an open forum where conversation is possible. Either that or face an unhappy crowd that’ll leave us high and dry in this big old cyber world.

It is no longer enough to know the consumer, we need to dialogue with them.

So how do we get to know them beyond the old tick box -- age, sex and location…and bring the love back?