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Craig Wills, Strategist,
NAKED
Nobody
likes being shouted at or told what to do, we all like a conversation
and a friendly chat, to be involved and play our part.
Historically,
advertising served as a statement of stature and kudos - if you advertised
on television you were deemed to be the major player and in-turn the brand
that everyone purchased. As the economy grew so to did the number of brands
- for a while one could just shout a little louder than the other and
the purchaser would get the message - "buy me, I'm the best". Simple.
As there
became an oversupply of brands with quality parity - the purchaser evolved
into the consumer with complex and demanding requirements upon which decisions
about favourability and purchasing were and are made.
If your
brand fails to hold conversation and talk in the right way and engage
and involve at the right time then you can be sure than someone else'
brand will.
The brand
savvy consumer will quickly be aware of the mismatch between himself or
herself and you and like any friendship new or old - if you don't understand
and relate to each other then divorce is the only option.
It is for
this very reason that brands today need to get naked - strip themselves
down to identify areas of vulnerability. Advertising has historically
acted as a mask but consumers can and do demand much more, brands are
fully exposed and every element of communication plays its part in its
success or inversely its failure.
To get
to the hub of the solution we need to clarify what 'media' means. No longer
is it just channels that hold advertising messages - television, radio,
outdoor et al - everything is your 'media'; the packaging, distribution,
logo, call centre, guarantee, point of sale, customer service are all
constituent parts of a brand and therefore they communicate with the consumer.
This is not to discredit any traditional media - television and outdoor
are enormously important parts of the messaging for many brands, but if
you get naked and discover your call centre can't handle capacity what
good is television then?
Enjoying
80% awareness is fantastic but not when the real competition takes place
on the fourth shelf down on aisle number three.
Recently a prominent marketing director highlighted his priority shift
in 'media' with the statement, "Shelf wobblers are the new television"
- a complex equation to deal with but couple that with a price reduction
and a loyalty scheme and you could be looking at increased weekly purchase
and increased market share! It all rests on delivering consumer focused
solutions.
Media-neutral
Strategic Planning is drilling into the heart of the business and understanding
the role and function of each and every consumer facing piece of communication,
stripping down the brand and ensuring contact between the consumer and
the relevant brand elements.
Every solution
will be different, as each brand is unique by default there can be no
single answer, no template. Sitting at the heart of all this thinking
is always the consumer, they need to understood for what they (we) are
- complex, varied, demanding, busy, self-selective and ready to say NO.
If we are
to truly connect the brand and the consumer we need to go a long way further
than herd people together by age, sex or social classification - we choose
our circle of friends because we have similar interests, enjoy each others
company, they entertain us and make us laugh, others we turn to for help.
A laboured point maybe but connection comes through understanding consumer
values and lifestyles and the moments when your messages are most relevant.
Moments'
planning is about seeing the consumer in their entirety - at home, at
work, in-store and understanding their motivations, expectations and knowing
what they will accept and allow as marketing messages.
Consumer
communication can rarely rely upon singular channels, we need to wrap
consumers in layers, often communicate vast levels of information whilst
exuding emotion and personality, highlight money off and gather data for
example. This multi-faceted approach needs deep understanding of consumer
touch points - engagement, conversation, relevance, timeliness. Of equal
importance is having a team in place that can work from a start point
of seeing the problem first not the potential solution. Anything is possible,
no longer do brands have to piggyback traditional media channels to get
their message across - create your own magazine or television show, use
your store as the main advertising tool.
We know
what 'Media-neutral Planning' is NOT, and that is smart placement of advertising
and clients and agencies will need to open themselves up and understand
the relative importance of every 'media' channel before integration is
possible.
Media-neutral
Planning might just be an appreciation and understanding that there is
no right answer only the answer for you - stripping yourself down to expose
the answer could well be the best starting point.
(c) Account
Planning Group 1995-2002
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