The Shrinking Universe

Have you ever shopped online? Have you read online news? Have you tried to invest some of your money in the other country? Of course all of you have communicated through email. In fact this sharing is being read by you wherever you are, even though I am sitting in front of my computer in Sydney Australia. These situations probably were not possible some decades ago.

A couple of decades ago, it took us a long period of time to communicate with our relatives in another part of the world. Nowadays, all you have to do is log in to your windows messenger and do an online chat with them. It was impossible to order a bunch of flower from London to our loved ones in Jakarta. Nowadays, some online florists could even reach you wherever you are. It was a troublesome to make a payment without cash. Nowadays, all you have to bring is your credit card and you could easily access your money practically everywhere. Nowadays, you can find all the international brands (McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Carrefour, etc. in Jakarta. The more I think about it, the more I am amazed by this phenomenon. I call this phenomenon a shrinking universe.

This phenomenon also affects the whole business atmosphere. In marketing this phenomenon somehow increases the competition level within the market. The local giants can no longer claim its country as their market. The occurrence of Carrefour surely affects the Hero Supermarket business in Indonesia. Gramedia bookstore is facing both international online and offline competitors within Indonesia (QB Bookstore and Amazaon.com). Moreover, the local professionals are also threatened by the expatriates in the job markets.

Another change in marketing due to the shrinking universe is the existence of the horizontal marketing. Initially marketing was conducted vertically from the company to the customers. Vertical marketing means educating the customers via advertisements. The shrinking universe summons the existence of blogs, online community centers, and forums. These mediums create the possibility to accelerate new information to percolate throughout the society. They also create the freedom to the society to voice and communicate their opinions easily. Therefore, the engagement of marketing through these mediums becomes more and more important.

Are you an entrepreneur? Are you a professional? Or are you a student? What do you think of the shrinking universe phenomenon from your profession point of view? What are the disadvantages and the advantages? Feel free to give your opinions!!

David Herlambang

MarketingFirst