Let's define the word "pull"

If "the consumer is now in control" is the most often cited truism in new marketing, then "marketers need to shift from push to pull" is surely a close runner-up.

True enough, but here's the rub.  I've heard more than a few people in our industry elaborate on this statement by explaining that, "marketing used to be about pushing messages out to consumers, but now it's about pulling consumers to the brand."  Um, ok but no.

Pull is not about pulling consumers in; it's about giving consumers a reason to pull us in.  Remember truism #1 - they're in control; they (not we) decide where they go and what they experience.  We've lost the right to pull consumers anywhere (if we ever really had that right at all.)

Pulling consumers toward our brands is really just the desired result of push marketing - we interrupt consumers as they go about their business and hope to redirect (or pull) them into some kind of brand experience.  It's still old marketing.

Pull means that we to go to them, join their communities, give them reasons to voluntarily draw us into their personal media experiences.  We're not interrupting them.  They're opting into us. 

So next time someone asks you about the shift from push to pull, remember that "push marketing" is what old marketers did, "pull marketing" is what new consumers do.  Different?  Yes.  But this is how the game is played today.