Being direct... AdVantage Jul 2006
Be Brave: Engage in Participative Communication.
It may be time to do something a little different with dialogue!
I don't know about you but I am finding things in the digital advertising business just a little weird right now. Comments abound on many sites as to how the selfishness of some is causing widespread problems for everyone. Worst of all, much of this concern is being expressed at a time when South Africans are weighing up the pro's and con's of new consumer protection legislation.
E-mail spammers have pissed off ordinary people to the extent that many of them are now installing protection like spy ware and pop-up blockers - to make it almost impossible for genuine e-mail offers/content to get to the right people. People actually do need to receive (rather than block) a digital message, in order to have a chance to absorb/act on its content - so this has to be a looming problem for those still locked into targeting.
Two specific 'happenings' this week have influenced the content of this column. The first was an item in my daily dose of worldwide advertising action - the morning e-mail from Ad Age Daily, which included a piece by Scott Donaton drawing his reader's attention to : 'Lessons for Traditional Marketers who no longer Control the Dialogue' with customers.
The second was a quick scan through some of my previous Being Direct columns and in the issue dated August 2004, (which was written in June 04) I noted that I had said the following:
'…when we accept that marketing communication is changing from not only being that which marketers are prepared to allow (about their branded products or services), to a 'connected world' where ordinary people can spread good AND bad information about brands faster (and indeed considerably cheaper) compared to what marketers can even begin to afford to do - then we have to accept that the pure form of marketing 'control' is lost. When one adds to this that newer technologies are placing new forms of such 'control' directly (and literally) into the hands of the marketplace, then we marketers have to accept that the old model may well be in its death-throws…'
Well, is it? - And if so - what can replace it?
A world in which customers actually create ads themselves would have been thought as 'insane' just two short years ago, but it seems that we have already started a move towards a 'participative' marketing communication environment, facilitated in no small way by the explosive growth in internet bandwidth as well as in mobile digital and camera technology, over those same two years.
The Ad-Age article describes the management of General Motors as being extremely 'brave' for inviting their customers to submit their own TV spots for their 'gas-guzzling' Chevrolet Tahoe model. GM apparently then chose to go the 'honest' route and air some of the ads, including those that showed the brand in a less-than-favourable light. They have apparently accepted that a very good way to communicate to today's savvy customers, it to be straight-up, warts and all. For the full story go to: http://adage.com/columns/home.php?section_id=286
The age-old idea of controlling marketing communication so that it only features the brand in a very positive light - no longer resonates with many, many ordinary people - especially the young ! Most accept (thanks to 24hour digital TV and extremely efficient news websites) that we do not live in a perfect world, and that frankly, sugar-coated, more-perfect-than-perfect outbound marketing communication - just does not seem that credible anymore.
I find myself being extremely ambivalent towards these two schools of thought. On the one hand, involvement has always been an important part of breaking through 'clutter' and enhancing communication values, yet the 'risk' associated with just letting people say exactly what they like, can have extremely negative consequences for any brand. I guess that the answer (as always) lies in the execution, and how the 'reality' of a participative commercial is contextualised.
There is a parallel in editorial content too, where the rapid growth of 'reality' TV seems, of late, to have been hijacked by the script writers - trying to wring another rating point or three out of the so-called 'real' situation. Ultimately though, any astute audience will see through this façade.
When one adds the growth in the Google search-engine advertising model - both by customers and also by aware advertisers; and consider how many competitive offerings are now being trundled out by all and sundry; it becomes even more obvious that these days commercial communication contact is increasingly being initiated by the customer.
While on this particular subject, a new study by US research company Mangen Research Associates concludes:
'…after 50 years of sellers markets, buyers are taking wide-spread control of buyer-seller relationships, and many companies don't know how to respond…customers rate price second to customer-focus in buying influence, with traditional marketing practices - including brand-building and automating customer service - rated least important by a wide margin'
I personally look forward to the day when more of the very talented and hugely creative members of our SA ad-scene take the proverbial bull by the horns and try and find new and effective ways to get customers to use new technologies that allow their greater participation in interactive forms of communication, but which also put them in the driving seat. It's just got to be more fun and consequently a much richer experience for customers - instead of continuing to expect the 'targets' to look at and respond to, the same old, same old, day after day after day.