Natural communication is more appealing

By Robert Wheatley

Do you want consumers who engage on-line to visit your Web site, consume information on your brand and follow-through to buy your product? According to a recent article at eMarketer, the best route to victory may not be through the advertising path.

A recent poll by Opinion Research Corporation finds that brand mentions in on-line articles are more likely to engage their intended audience and cause them to act, versus banner and pop-up ads, email offers and sponsored links. Once again there is mounting evidence this PR-driven form of communication holds court over push messaging in ads and offers.

The advice to marketers: don’t undercut your investments in PR communication in the on-line world, in favor of paid ad outreach.

What is it about articles?

Articles at once carry the demeanor of authorship and therefore the investment and credibility of its writer. People intrinsically respect articles as a reliable source of education and knowledge. Information and ideas are presented in a conversational fashion that allows the reader to consume, judge and form their own conclusions. They feel in control of the process. And conversely they don’t feel like they’re being overtly sold and thus manipulated by a third party.

We seek out and collect information because it makes us feel good to be knowledgeable. We have an innate thirst for understanding and so articles quench the desire to be aware and in touch.

Study sponsor ARAnet President, Scott Stevenson reports, “More than two-thirds of the respondents between 18 and 34 said they conduct Internet searches for products or services they read about in on-line articles either frequently or somewhat frequently.”

The channels of effective communication are changing. The arena for engagement is fast becoming digital to be sure. But the basic drivers behind the human desire for information and ideas remains a constant. Content is king. Challenge your PR team to devote more of their energy and attention to securing coverage in on-line venues. Optimize your spending to make sure you’re not leaving on-line coverage opportunities on the table. And remember, brands are now content creators so you don’t need to rely solely on other voices to tell your story.

The form, style and context of the message will matter as much as the message itself. What do you think?

By Robert Wheatley

Does the over-arching preoccupation with pocketbook issues mean that emotion is taking the back seat to a more analytical point of view about things we buy? Is the mass move to frugality and pragmatism wringing out the value and power of emotionally driven communications?

NO…

The organism now walking the aisles of stores and supermarkets remains connected to the same brain that still makes much of its assessment about brand value and meaning on an emotional level. If anything, many of the root problems in the economy emanate from unrelenting emotional cues. Conditions today pour out of feelings of fear, uneasiness and discomfort that foster a behavior aimed at making real efforts to conserve and reign in profligate spending habits.

This conversation is vital because much is at stake for how brands present themselves in what is arguably one of the most challenging marketplaces to appear in the last 20 years.

We believe the right path doesn’t abandon what neuroscientists have already confirmed about how we make decisions on brands and purchases. Rather fine-tuning and modification of the strategic menu is in order.

It is probably obvious to all that emotional triggers pulled from strategies that worked in the previous era of abundance and asset wealth are no longer appropriate, such as:

Hedonism
Luxury
Indulgence
Consumption
Exclusivity
Prestige
Cutting edge
In-the-know

More effective in this time is a focus towards drivers cross the divide from indulgence to assurance:

Home
Hearth
Family
Security
Dependability
Practical
Smart
In-control

Value remains a major priority as brands navigate the difficult course around the prevailing desire to cut back and spend less. So brand messaging must balance between emotional and logical reasons for purchase. Just don’t make the mistake of letting this pendulum swing too far to the right and knock out the emotional components of outreach that are respectful of how we humans operate.

Peter Rogovin of Next Level Strategic Marketing has an insightful column on the subject in BrandWeek entitled “Why Spock Needs Kirk.” Worth a read!!

What do you think?

By Robert Wheatley

The cosmic at work on planet earth

This post may feel a bit like convening with the spirits or consulting the stars, but there is merit and consequence, we believe between proper, moral, ethical behavior and “good things will happen to you” and your business.

Otherworldly phenomenon…

An agency management consultant we know and respect, David Baker, made an interesting comment to us about the at times murky world of new business development activity. He said: you can’t know from one day to the next when a prospective client is actually ready and motivated to buy your services. His comment came in a conversation about what he believes is a lot of misguided attempts to “sell” agency services. He correctly asserts that agency services are bought and not sold.

However, he also said that there’s an almost cosmic, otherworldly connection between the act of purposeful outreach and opportunities for growth. His point: even though some activities may appear to be shots in the proverbial dark, there is a corollary relationship over time between conscious effort (sweat) and opportunity (result). You cannot necessarily quantify or calculate exactly how action “A” leads to “B” but it routinely does, so you proceed down this trail with a measure of faith that your labor will be rewarded. And sometimes from places you least expect.

Faith?

Similarly are there forces at work in business we cannot fully understand and measure that make the case for ethical behavior and the moral high ground? I believe the answer is absolutely YES. There are plenty of opportunities in business to take a darker path, as Seth Godin discusses in a recent post.

There is an interesting dynamic at play around us that underscores the wisdom and value of ethical actions. It may seem that bad guys like Bernie Madoff routinely make out like bandits — and others with less obvious criminal intents may also work hard to reap benefits from business practices that fly on the edge of moral judgment (some argue this condition is at the foundation of a few Wall Street meltdowns).

The world is a curious place and the rationale for moral conduct has a lot going for it beyond the religious undertones it’s almost always associated with or how you were brought up. Truthfulness, doing the right thing if you will, is somehow at work like a natural order just below the surface at all times. The old saying, “what goes around comes around” has been proven more often and in more ways that I can count.

If you act and operate morally, responsibly in your personal life and business dealings, there is a functionality to it that works alongside the conscience we’re raised with. Congruently bad behavior over time often leads to bad outcomes. This curious balance and force tempers the rush to greed that can motivate bad decisions and judgments.

Do nice guys finish first?

So does faith operate in the business world? Absolutely. Doesn’t mean we recommend tossing your efforts aside in favor of waiting for miracles. Rather the actions and efforts you undertake, if done in a spirit of right, fair, helpful, generous truthful, lawful and correct — lead to outcomes that generate benefits for individuals and business.

You agree?

By Robert Wheatley

Validation at the core of our new brand belief system

Last October I did a post on Trust and why it matters to brand growth and development. Recently I’ve been thinking about the relationship between that issue and the fundamentals of why the marketing communications landscape has shifted to make earned media (Editorial media, Web and social content) communications vital to brand success — not just a nice icing-on-the-cake thing to “add” to the mix.

Where there’s Trust, there’s engagement. And where Trust does not exist there is no relationship. And without any relationship is the absence of “mattering.” And when you don’t matter, you’re irrelevant. And when you’re irrelevant you’re a commodity — and people won’t take the time or mental energy to listen to what you have to say.

Spam is an interesting term that for most people simply means those annoying e-mail solicitations you can get for products you don’t want or need. The word, however, has broader meaning. I think it might apply to brand communications where Trust and therefore “mattering” are absent. Whether off line or on, communication that is pushed from brands lacking in Trust is a shotgun blast of Spam-like info that will probably fall on deaf ears.

As is my habit, I like to cast ideas in the form of a visual that helps convey the concept. Below is the Brand Trust Ladder. The point is to help cast the relative power of various forms of communication in the context of how brands become trusted. Trust precedes engagement. And engagement means the intended audience has opted in to listen.

Download this image as a PDF: brandtrust.pdf

At the top end of the ladder we find Validation. This concept is true to the age in which we live because it expresses the inescapable fact that consumers want information on products and services they buy to be “vetted.” We look for outside third-party sources – both expert and laymen – to corroborate what we think we know about brands.

These are the building blocks of brand trust – the more independent, valued and believed sources agree with what brands attempt to convey, the more we determine they are trust-worthy.

It is the mission of public relations strategies to identify the sources of credibility a brand can leverage. Then to develop communications that helps build linkage with the community of validate-ors who can confirm ideas, positioning, information and reputation about brands.

If brand communications spending is truly about changing attitudes and behaviors, then this idea is mission critical to achieving your ROI objectives.

Your thoughts?