There used to be clear delineations between product manufacturer/creator, channel/distributor, retailer and end consumer.

Enabling this traditional marketing model there was mass media. Advertising mad men then helped consumers to embrace the products and services they hadn’t heard of and didn’t know they needed. Now the interconnections of the Internet have transformed the sequence of commerce and marketing.

Customers are now researching every category online

People have a need? They research online for themselves in the safety of their own home, avoiding the charms of advertisers and brand collateral, packaging and point of sale merchandising. The empowered consumer accessing product knowledge on the web via forums, chatrooms and reviews is beyond the charms of the seasoned salesman on the shop floor.

Even more disconcerting for the traditional retailer of a product or service is the emergence of the medium no longer just being the message, but now a vertically integrated marketing model.

From books to money management, every category has been turned inside out and upside down. What was linear, is now a 3D demand and supply freeform organism.

Consider books. A hard back would come out, early adopters would pay a hefty premium, soft cover would follow, trends would be noted, popular titles would have second and third editions printed and distributed, blockbusters would be advertised and the retailers would rake in the cash and the publishers would cover the costs of the many failures by most of their authors.

Then Amazon cut out the middleman, and now with the Kindle is changing the distance from content to delivery even further, you can now download and store a library of 3500 “books” on a device that is close to the price of a couple of hardbacks. So if there is no need to print and distribute, does the author deal direct with Amazon, seeing the retailer become the publisher?

Even services aren’t untouched by the digital revolution

Take for example Superannuation Funds. If you work you have one, no wonder there are thousands of funds competing for a share of 9% of your salary.

For Australian investors there used to be 3 Clayton’s choices, the choice you have when you don’t get a choice. If you were a blue-collar worker your employer put you into the Industry Super Fund that was created for your industry. If you were a public servant, you were automatically in your government fund. White-collar workers had a modicum of choice, the local Insurance salesman would flog a retail fund and benefit from the handsome commission and trailing fees.

Not any more. Super Choice means most can now choose their fund. Those who are motivated research online, in fact 50.6% do, whereas only 12% turn to newspapers and a mere 3% magazines. So while all those funds are spending hundreds of millions advertising in mass media, savvy investors that are shopping around are stumbling upon a vertically integrated model. Fairfax Digital owns InvestSmart, a licensed financial services business that bought Direct Access, which was a discount retailer of funds. Fairfax in its wealth and business sections publishes articles on super and investment. On the same pages are links and comparison tools branded InvestSmart. These tools and tips and comparison lists educate the Super Shopper. Then when they are ready to buy, fulfillment is just one click away for a fee a fraction of the traditional adviser model. So the publisher becomes the retailer.

So does all of this mean consumers are better off? The fastest growing and the biggest segment by value of the 1.4 trillion dollar Super category is DIY. Self Managed Super offers investors the allure of control. Pity the average SMSF underperforms the average Industry Fund and has higher costs, until someone challenges the model that is.

Whether you are a retailer or a service provider, a financial services business or a manufacturer, it’s now time to reappraise your marketing model before your competition beats you to it.