Companies must change their strategies to succeed online

Companies will need to abandon traditional ways of selling to customers in order to succeed in the online world.

That is according to Gartner, the IT research and advisory company, which maintained that new skills and techniques will be required to engage with modern consumers.

Gartner said that a "Generation Virtual" (or "Generation V") had emerged, which could not be defined by demographic information such as age and gender.

Instead, this new generation is identified by a preference for discovering information via the use of digital media channels.

Adam Sarner, principal analyst at Gartner, commented: "Conventional wisdom has focused on customer identification as the foundation for one-to-one marketing campaigns.

"The reality of Generation V creating anonymous online personas, and the sheer power of their growing influence in an online environment, means companies must change their methods of acquisition and relationship building.

"Customer relationship management (CRM) –focused companies and particularly their marketing departments must take notice of this change and engage with online personas."

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