How can you reach consumers? Freeweb's president writes that the answer is to offer online models that solve consumers' problems and a brand that adheres to their terms.
It's hard to remember at times how the world functioned before the internet. Many of the tasks of our daily lives that have since been simplified through the powerful combination of WiFi, broadband and venture capital seem quaint memories of a bygone era. The manic last-minute shopping scene in Hollywood's holiday season comedies is almost too unrealistic to be funny; the anxiety of haggling impotently with a car salesman has gone the way of the Edsel; and the image of sitting in front of a travel agent, looking at glossy brochures of exotic far away places is suitable for a re-enactment on The History Channel.
But there is an ancient commerce model we would do well to remember, and even revisit. True, the internet has placed control squarely in the hands of consumers, but there were some unfortunate casualties in this power struggle.
When we first learned online how much a car really cost or that airlines charge different prices for the same seats, and then how to get around what we perceived as unfair tactics, our reaction was one of vindication. It was us against them; hard-working, taxpaying, family-supporting buyers vs. faceless marketing and commerce machines, and we'd just found a mound of rocks for our slings.
But the casualty in this new world order is the symbiotic relationship between the people who buy and the people who sell. How many of us invite the person who sold our car over to a dinner party, or have our banker stop by the Labor Day BBQ? Yet to many of our parents, the people they did business with were also their friends.
Up until now, resurrecting this symbiosis in any meaningful way online was simply not feasible. Consumers were beginning to relish their new power, while at the same time the corporate world's aggressive "bigger or bust" objective made marketers universally too easy to vilify.
But now, I look around online at how quick people are to comment openly about brands, stores, restaurants and products they have experience with-- good, bad and even neutral. And while they are vigilantly resisting being defined by brands, people are more likely than ever to proactively associate themselves with brands to shed some light on who they are. Today's Nike swooshes on sneakers are complemented by a Jay-Z song in the background of a personal homepage, online profile pictures that include a beloved Ford F-150 as well as a doting spouse, and a long list of friends that contains two summer blockbusters (okay, one blockbuster and "Snakes on a Plane"), seven chart-topping recording artists, four actors and a male personal grooming appliance.
So there are a couple of macro-issues in place, the combination of which creates a fascinating opportunity for advertisers:
- People migrate to online models that help solve their problems. In this case, purchase decisions: what to buy, how much to spend, where to buy.
- Brands are welcome, provided that they adhere to their customers' terms. Usually this means "do something for their customers" not "get customers to do something for them."
Advertisers who provide a service to their customers then have an opportunity to rejoin a powerful community. And while the community is ostensibly online, the relationships are channel agnostic.
It's not an unprecedented opportunity, however. Envisioning its incarnation today, I keep returning to an image of a medieval European village. Look at the advertiser there, who you might not recognize even as an advertiser because he's so tightly integrated into the community. He is the man walking through the streets with a half-barrel of fresh vegetables or bread strapped around his neck. He calls out his inventory to the open windows that line the street, and is invited into homes where his customers can inspect and sample and negotiate and chat, blissfully free of the inconvenience of the market in a pre-SUV and stroller era. This advertiser provides a service, enhanced by his personal aptitude for patience, friendliness, good conversation, even empathy. And he is a deeply integrated member of the community, and in many cases becomes almost a member of the family.
As marketers, we call this "locked in loyalty." And as marketers, we're more comfortable with "locked in loyalty" than we are with becoming part of our customers' "family." Becoming comfortable with this new role that advertisers must play will be the biggest obstacle to overcome, and requires marketers to recalibrate some of their approaches to advertising:
Handshakes, not eyeballs, are the new currency. Most of today's advertising is about reach because most of it is wasted, and about frequency so it can be wasted again and again. A campaign that is viewed by a million people but engages only 1,000 of them really "reaches" 1,000, not a million. When looking at marketing within communities, compare not the overall audiences, but the spheres of quality contact.
Aim to be of service, not to hit your numbers. Jay-Z plays in the background of personal profiles because he solves a problem. In social networks, people are communicating something about themselves to meet people, and identifying themselves with this artist or that truck or these brands is a shortcut to understanding. But different communities address different problems. How can your brand be of service in the communities you want to join?
Big ideas need to fit into small creative budgets. The model of spending lavishly on an execution and then defraying that expense across millions and millions of impressions won't work here. Ads -- whether they are widgets or videos or wallpaper or bling -- have to somehow be a part of the community, which means tailoring executions precisely to each group. Be prepared to spend a higher percentage of budgets on creative, but by doing so you'll have ads that engage better and don't need as much media to achieve similar results.
Shervin Pishevar is president and COO of Freewebs, Inc. Read full bio.