Being direct... AdVantage Dec 2002
Life ...
The Balance Between Self-Interest and the Common Good?
It is Tuesday October 22nd and I am writing this in my hotel in San Francisco, California - where last Sunday saw the start of the 85th American Direct Marketing Association Annual Conference and Exhibition. It is billed as the world's largest gathering of Direct and Interactive marketers and I am here in large part due to the serious negotiating efforts of Marketing South Africa acting-CEO, Davy Ivins - who managed to convince the USDMA to be a little kinder to us South Africans - through acknowledging the sad effect on us of the Rand/Dollar exchange rate slide. Without this assistance, I - for one - most certainly would not have been here.
I have been rather fortunate during the 11 or so years that I have been a member of the USDMA, to attend some eight USDMA events - this being my third annual conference in San Francisco itself, and they usually rotate amongst a selection of different US cities each year. Yet, this time I am aware of a 'difference' in both the tone and to some extent the content of the conference.
When I first started coming to these events, the presentation talk and exhibition content was all about 'tricks' to get the envelope opened, and of ways to boost response. Copy, content devices, premium gifts, scratch cards, et al. And of course, the lists. Then the focus started to move towards the need for databases to evaluate response. A year or two after that it was all about the explosion of the Internet, and the early efforts of companies like Prodigy; AOL, Compuserve, and the arrival of electronic brochures. Then came the 'new' media like television-on-demand and we heard it all from the Disneys, Viacoms and numerous other dot.com and cable companies. Soon it was all about CRM, and the floor of the exhibition was literally covered with offerings from a myriad of software developers who promised that 'their' CRM solution would change your business - forever!
During these many visits to the US, I found the attitude of most Americans at the conferences (attendees and participants) to be very 'self'-oriented from the business perspective. They would introduce themselves, ask you what you do, and where you're from - and the moment that they did not see a business opportunity developing out of the interaction - and this sometimes happened very quickly indeed - the eyes would glaze over and they would move onto the next potential 'prospect' to enrich themselves.
Something has happened in the US, and that something appears to have had a great effect on all aspects of life there. There appears to be a vivid realisation that while so many were so busy getting rich, somebody forgot to keep a watch on their collective backs. The fact that 9/11 could happen at all seems to have deeply affected every American. Then came the corporate governance scandals of Enron and Worldcom and the mere fact that captains of industry, previously trusted and almost beyond reproach, were probably stealing from their shareholders in this - the land of the free - also affected many Americans. Who can you trust these days??
Also, one became aware that there now seems to be a greater preparedness to focus on some of the 'softer' or emotional aspects of doing business, and this appears to be an acknowledgment that some of the more self-oriented issues are not as politically 'correct' as they might once have been, and that it is no longer macho or part of the game of business - to be as ruthless as possible.
Probably, nobody was more surprised than I to find much of the content of this year's conference being quite serious about longer-term issues. Examples of presentation titles are: From Wall Street to Main Street - Measuring the Economic Health of our Industry and our Nation; Surprising and Delighting Packaged Goods Consumers: The Road To Deeper Consumer Relationships; What Every Woman Wants Your Company to Know About Her; Customers For Keeps: 8 Powerful Strategies to Turn Customers into Friends and Keep Them Forever; etc. There was even a whole session on human networking, and the language was all about Respecting the other party; Smiling; Reputations; saying Nice things; Consistency; having Values etc.
My theory is that the dog-eat-dog nature of the American 'way' has finally been exposed for what it is - and that people in general are beginning to look for more out of life than just a feeding frenzy of self-interest. It's now all about being seen to be associated with acceptable values, and also is a recognition that we all need to value our relationships to a much greater extent than our self-interests, for life can be fleeting. The icons of statehood such as the flag, the leadership and the anthem are really binding people together in a noticeable way.
At the opening ceremony for example, a group of about 8 men sang the national anthem - but with a passion and a response that was palpable! The keynote presentations, including one by CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs, were delivered with a fervour, zeal and commitment that leaves one in no doubt that there is an undercurrent of sheer determination and will-to-win in the US at the moment - that is simply non-negotiable! The common good seems to have become more important than self-interest……it was (and is) absolutely amazing!
Did you know that Direct Marketers are Ducks and Brand Marketers are Hens? This, at least is the theory of one Jon Roska, Founder and CEO of Roska Direct. He described very succinctly why the two disciplines are the same: a) both are birds and a) both are concerned with advertising; So, he asked - why do they differ all the time? b) The one wants warm fuzzy stuff and b) the other wants everything to have a measurable re-action; In addition, his suggestion that we are all destined to land up being marketing agencies anyway - is an acknowledgement of the whole integration 'thing' that has been thrown around the world of advertising for years now. It was interesting to me that this matter is still on the agenda after all of this time. Integration has been featured as a subset of the DMA conference agenda for probably each and every one that I have attended. At least some things are constant.
I have requested a copy of the full presentation from Jon, and if he obliges me - I will attempt in a future column, to share some more of his insights as to how we in the marketing communications business will simply have to transition from choosing one or the other (either/or) - to understanding how to be both/and exponents of this wonderful, ever-changing, commercial and marketing communication discipline.