“Marketing 6.0: The Future is Immersive” lays out the foundations of metamarketing and the technologies and platforms used daily by Generations Z and Alpha.
Marketing 6.0 follows the earlier Marketing 3.0, Marketing 4.0, and Marketing 5.0.
The previous 5.0 focused on the shift to customer-centric content marketing, AI-supported marketing strategies, and the rise of tailored multi-channel and omni-channel marketing for the digital age. Therefore, it’s a natural progression to 6.0, which is tied to immersive experiences in extended reality, also known as XR, and in the metaverse.
The Authors of Marketing 6.0
Philip Kotler is one of the marketing gurus recognized as the world’s leading expert in structuring marketing as a scientific discipline. He is known for shifting the marketing focus from product-oriented to market-oriented, for spreading the theories of the 4P and 4C marketing mix, and for always studying, following, and anticipating the trends in this discipline.
It is worth reflecting on how Philip Kotler, despite his 93 years, continues to be a reference figure, dealing with themes related to generations that, theoretically, could seem distant from his direct experience. In this latest effort, he is not alone: he is joined by Hermawan Kartajaya, 76, and Iwan Setiawan, 47, with whom he has already shared the authorship of the aforementioned publications. The collaboration among these three minds, who vary in their life and professional paths, enriches the work, demonstrating how the depth of experience and freshness of perspectives can merge into a work capable of speaking to multiple generations.
Metamarketing
The Kotler team has produced another study work on metamarketing, the new form of marketing in which professionals go beyond the simple fusion of traditional and digital marketing techniques to offer a true physical and digital convergence in an interactive and engaging customer experience.
Explaining how to exploit metaverses and extended reality, and uncover the most common obstacles, pitfalls, and mistakes encountered by marketers striving to operate in this more interactive and engaging environment, Marketing 6.0 also offers insights on sustainability themes and new technologies that companies must understand to remain relevant during a dynamic and exciting era of commerce.
The authors demonstrate how to leverage traditional and digital marketing techniques to exploit consumers’ continuous desire for human interaction, while exploring the new possibilities unlocked by the latest technologies.
Contents of the book Marketing 6.0
Part I: Introduction to Marketing 6.0
The first part of the book includes four chapters and delves into the marketing strategies that lead to metamarketing for immersive platforms. It summarizes the arguments for immersive marketing and recommends structuring one’s approach to it. It also provides excellent context for planning sessions, offering, for example, a good industrial context, such as the penetration of e-commerce retail sales.
- Welcome to the era of Marketing 6.0: from multi to omni to meta
- The emergence of digital natives: the young Generation Z and Generation Alpha come of age
- The inevitability of immersive marketing: five micro-trends leading to metamarketing
- The future of customer experience: merging physical and digital for full immersion
Part II: The Enabler and Environment of Marketing 6.0
The second part of the text is divided into three chapters, building on the concepts initially introduced. It delves into the technological innovation represented by Marketing 6.0, shining a spotlight on the latest frontier of immersive experience. This section provides the reader with insights on using Extended Reality (XR) technologies and the metaverse, highlighting their advancement well beyond the initial boundaries related to the world of video games and entertainment. It also offers practical advice for evolving these tools into new social media channels.
This aspect is particularly stimulating, as the decentralized structure of web 3.0 could actually enhance the potential of XR and the metaverse, turning them into a concrete perspective from a technological standpoint.
- Understanding technological enablers: five key technologies fueling metamarketing
- Building extended realities: immersive experience in real life
- Tapping into the metaverse: the future form of social media platforms
Part III: The Marketing 6.0 Experience
The final section of the book dives into the last three chapters, focusing on the implementation of metamarketing. It explores the evolution of multisensory marketing, extending beyond the traditional senses of sight and hearing characteristic of the digital era, to embrace an immersive experience that involves all five senses, thanks to XR technologies and the metaverse. Spatial marketing wisdom, which uses geographic location and time of day to offer a previously unimaginable personalized customer experience, is also examined.
This last part offers perspectives that encourage the exploration of new forms of engagement with future generations. Raised in the digital era, Generations Z and Alpha perceive the immersive experience as a natural element of their existence. Exploring how they spend time online from a young age opens up future scenarios for metamarketing and illustrates how brands can establish a connection with emerging generations, in sync with the evolution of immersive technologies.
- Multisensory marketing: providing immersive experiences for the five senses
- Spatial marketing: delivering natural human-machine interactions
- Marketing in the metaverse: experimenting with engaging the next generation
Why Read Marketing 6.0
In the marketing realm, if there are must-read books and authors who need no introduction, this is one of those cases.
It goes without saying that this book is a must-read for marketing professionals, but it will also interest managers, executives, professionals, and leaders who seek to stay ahead as the marketing landscape evolves.
Of great interest to everyone to better understand Generations Z and Alpha and their approach to work, brands, and life in general.
We have transformed our society into a deeply digitalized reality, where technology is no longer viewed with suspicion but is an integral part of our daily lives. The ability to execute marketing strategies targeted towards an audience that rapidly evolves within continually changing technological contexts has become a tangible reality, not merely theoretical speculation. This transformation represents a radical change in the way society perceives its existence, fully embracing active participation in the digital world.
Marketing 6.0 positions itself in this scenario, offering insights and strategies to understand and manage a scenario destined to play a central role in our future.
Currently, it is not yet available in Italian, but even in its original language, it is understandable and easy to read. The authors have made complex and nebulous topics very digestible in just a few chapters.