Mumbai: About now, advertisers are becoming aware that the consumer holds more sway over the brand’s promise than the marketers. The customer picks and chooses the brand he wants on a whole new set of criteria than traditional advertisers are prepared for.
The digital native consumer would much rather speak to your brand than be spoken to. More importantly, he would rather speak to other consumers who use your brand and make up his mind about you. The marketing environment is changing rapidly. Multi-directional messaging is now the name of the game.
Relinquish control
Controlling the brand narrative is a pretty tall order, in a situation like this. Advertisers no longer dominate the conversation. But there are ways that this can be achieved.
One of the emergent forms of the medium is the social media influencer. This stands for a spokesperson who represents the brand. Influencers create entertainment for their viewers. Viewers return to their sites, social media pages and discussion groups to see what’s new. The visitor targets them, not the other way around. Converting visitors to customers is a whole new avenue of learning for advertisers.
The most important lesson here is that influencers do not try to sell products. And this is the reason they make the best marketing channels. Consumers will not be pushed into a sale, and the faintest attempt at doing so gets the ‘skip ad’ treatment.
Be the one they trust
Consumers can see the sale coming a mile away. They would much rather believe another user of the brand than you. That’s where UGC comes in place.
One of the biggest draws on YouTube is ‘unboxing’ videos. Consumers would much rather listen to an actual buyer telling them what they like about the product and where they think it is lacking. If the content generator making the video says, ‘I like the long battery life’, you can chalk up a sale. If the same user says, ‘I would prefer if they made this product in Ceramic Blue’, the viewer has a choice. He can either decide that the colour doesn’t matter or leave a comment saying that he agrees.
See how this works? As you can see, the operative word is ‘choice’. As creative professionals, here’s where we come in. We listen to the criticism and post a comment. We suggest another of our products with better battery life, or simply promise to address it. The viewer sees the comment and appreciates you as a brand, a lot more than he did before. Now, you can chalk up a sale.
Listen to the suggestion and drop a comment asking, ‘Would anybody else like this in Ceramic Blue?’ Watch for the comments. You have assured the brand user that he is heard. You have told the viewer that you care. You have started a conversation about your brand that keeps you top of your mind.
Most importantly, you have guided the path of User-generated Content that favours your brand. And don’t forget to post the video on your Social Media feeds.
Keep them entertained
Never mind the sale. Think of this as entertainment. That will always sail through the firewalls in the customer’s mind. Advertising now needs to understand its re-defined purpose. Tell the customer your brand story. Not just the brand promise. Keep the consumer riveted with a compelling tale with promises of more revelations in the future. Be Scheherazade of the One Thousand and One Nights.
Time was, you launched a new fashion line and show people what the model is wearing. Reverse the thinking and what do you get. Ask the consumer to, ‘Build your own ensemble, post it here.’ Wait for it to grow. Pick your favourite and promote them. For consumers, being seen and commented on are reward enough. Promote the conversation, stoke the competitive fire and you have successfully made User-generated content keep your brand top-of mind.
But learning is hard. Or is it?
Advertising must look more towards magazines, television, film, and popular culture for the next generation of innovation. Advertising has always been a microcosm of entertainment anyway. We have stolen eyeballs from articles to showcase our ads. We have interrupted scheduled programming to deliver TVCs and radio spots. The difference is, we didn’t own the medium then, and could only buy bits of it. Now we own the medium, the entire attention of the public and the ability to deliver the message we like to send out. Now, we can be the editorial, the entertainment, the voice our customers prefer to hear.
All we need to do as advertisers is to study entertainment and absorb its methods. Build communication that entertains more than informs. Close the gap between the consumer interest and consumer involvement.
Social media is exactly that. Social.
Social media is your friend. As I have said before, this is no longer a game of one advertiser speaking to a multitude of consumers with the same message. One size no longer fits all. Every demographic sees the brand differently and they can’t be dismissed as wrong.
We have to re-wire our thinking to cater to different groups, denominations, and segments of customers. The ‘target audience’ no longer exists. We are now target brands for the best of our consumers. And rapidly, that dynamic is shifting in favour of the digital-equipped customer.
As advertising creatives, we used to command the message. Now, the job is to guide the conversation. The consumer now has the louder voice. We are merely the ones holding the microphone and asking appropriate questions. We are dropping hints that lead the customers to their own conclusions. More importantly, we are the ones creating scenarios that let the customer reveal themselves to us.
Advertising creatives have been used to speaking to a mute audience. It is time now to listen and react.
The author of this article is Thought Blurb Communications executive director Nidha Luthra
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