One of the greatest feats of modern advertising is the ability to seep into every facet of our modern lives, no longer limited to traditional media like television and print, new media is the next frontier, with campaigns reaching deep into the latest tools we use to communicate. Email marketing floods the inbox, Facebook spits out targeted banners and clever viral apps, Twitter is bombarded by promotional “tweets” and soon just walking near a Starbucks will alert us to the free cookie we’ll get with every coffee – the delights of GPS and new mobiles phones!
The point is advertising needs to continually re-invent itself to deal with its own self-made enemy: saturation. Futurelab recently presented this succinctly, saying:
People who live near train lines adjust to the noise. They do the same with advertising.
Futurelab – Change Marketing
So even the most viral of ads, even the savviest of ad placements have the converse effect of educating us – meaning we get increasingly discerning and harder to convince.
The upside of this downside is we’re going to see a lot less of those full-blown “cinematic” production ads – the slick sports car in surreal landscapes, cornering at torque speed; shiny happy people overcoming all obstacles in record time with the help of the gleaming new product.
Why? Because the formula is predictable and fails to convince as it once did – so backed into the corner, good marketing practice becomes more about finding and presenting what’s authentic in a brand.
Take for example “content marketing” advocated by marketing expert David Meerman Scott, he throws out the ROI obsessions and aims to build genuine consumer trust. There’s no real sales pitch either, it’s about educating prospects with relevant, valuable and engaging content.
You’ve got to think in terms of spreading ideas, not generating leads. A World Wide Rave gets the word out to thousands or even millions of potential customers. But only if you make your content easy to find and consume
David Meerman Scott – World Wide Rave
A good example is the recent Razorfish 2009 outlook document – because of its insightful content on digital marketing, it’s hit my inbox a few times and if looking to refresh my digital strategies, Razorfish has positioned itself nicely as an authority and without any direct sales pitch (also spreading their message even further right here).
The catch-22 is that today’s cynical consumers judge this type of marketing as authentic only when there’s no underlying monetary agenda – but isn’t ROI and actual sales why we market in the first place? Yes, but more importantly, if our marketing matches our product, there’s not need for the marketing veneer – it already is authentic.
Great. But my product isn’t cool – What can I do??? – Well, Frankly you’re screwed.
Futurelab – What’s Next In Marketing & Advertising
So, what makes a product cool? If we take Seth Godin’s approach – anything that creates meaning, a sense of identity and a connection to others builds a following (a tribe). If the tribe likes it – its cool. The communal spirit of the iPod garbed masses packed into subways and lining our streets is a classic example of how a product became not only cool, but an global phenomenon.
There’s a real religious inkling to Godin’s ideas on tribes, especially as religion for a lot of people is the ultimate path of seeking connection, authenticity and meaning.
It begs the question: Do brands need to become cultural gods, in order to survive? And if so, are their devotes the ultimate consumers? What are your thoughts…
References
David Meerman Scott
World Wide Rave
http://www.worldwiderave.com
Futurelab
Change Marketing
http://www.slideshare.net/Futurelab/change-marketing-v01-1452235
Seth Godin
Seth’s Blog
http://sethgodin.typepad.com
Razorfish
2009 Digital Outlook Report
http://digitaloutlook.razorfish.com/publication/?i=13617
DOUGLAS B. HOLT
Why Do Brands Cause Trouble? A Dialectical Theory of Consumer Culture and Branding
http://www.lombard-media.lu/pdf/0308_brands.pdf
