INTEGRATING MIND AND MEDIA
Advertising’s recession started long before the rest of the world’s. For years, global spend on mass media has seen dramatic falls. Reasons for the fall of the mighty media are as complex as the economy is frail. Undercurrents that cannot be ignored include the demise of trust for brands globally, and eroding credibly for the paid message. Worldwide, consumer trust for business has declined 50% in recent years, and 78% of consumers trust other consumers more than traditional information sources.
Yet throughout it all, one traditional form of marketing continues to hold its own: Direct.
Direct is much more than “mail” as many perceive it to be. Direct marketing as it was named in its early days as Lester Wunderman’s brain child is all about generating responses directly from the consumers via multiple channels rather than just creating more awareness and boosting a brand’s image. While we’ve put on a new face since Wunderman’s pioneering days of toll-free numbers and magazine subscription cards, direct is the still among the best methods for generating sales.
As this new era of consumerism continues to unfold, and marketing as we used to know it diminishes daily, the path for continued growth and profitability is clear: creating relevant brand episodes by integrating consumer psychology, personalized value, and marketing channels that support today’s lifestyles and emotional needs.
Integrating Consumer Psychology
More important than coming up with new discounts and promotions to create short-lived revenue boosts, marketers need to focus their efforts on what really drives consumer buying behavior. Research that delves deep into the human mind validates that we consumers are not very rational, making highly emotional decisions that aren’t always practical. Note the overwhelming levels of credit card debt that imprison consumers. How rational was it to spend beyond our means for years? Clearly it wasn’t, but the emotions of having something cool, prestigious, or fun overrode common sense and drove behavior. Nothing has changed, and in fact, the key characteristics of what makes us humans happy haven’t changed since the beginning time.
Psychologists past and present teach us that happiness is predicated on fulfilling the soul through meaningful relationships, feelings of worth, and the ability to impact others’ lives and make a difference in the world. Happiness due to getting a great deal on a new product, or something for free because we are VIP customers is fleeting. To generate lasting happiness among customers, we need to create feelings of connectedness, fairness, and relevant value.
Successful marketing today is based then based upon understanding the emotions behind consumer behavior, rational and irrational, and how to address them accordingly via various marketing channels. Research that tracks the unconscious mind shows significant increases in brain activity when presented with messages that have emotional relevance. And quite often, this activity leads to sales or another desired behavior.
Personalized Value
Personalization has long been leading the way for response rates and marketing ROI. It is now taking on a new life and product category through personalized digital books and photo albums. The fact that these one-of-a-kind personal products are a $25 billion business in the U.S. alone validates what psychologists say about us consumers. We want to feel connected and part of something fulfilling. And we want products, communications and experiences that are all about us, not about pushing some brand’s sales message that sounds like everybody else’s.
Integrating Lifestyle Media
Discussions at marketing conferences worldwide in which I have participated this year all point to the need to integrate our messages throughout various touch points in consumer lives. While direct mail might drive existing customers to new information on a website, mobile marketing might be used to send instant coupons for goods and services consumers can use “right now.” Print, e.g., magazines and newspapers also play an important role in reinforcing brand values and characteristics, both of which influence choice and loyalty. Social media too is critical as it shows customers your brand is not only a part of their world, but actually gets it. Consumers support innovative brands and move on from those that aren’t.
Successful media integration today involves three key phases:
1. Set up the relationship: Personalized direct mail gets attention, states the value of the relationship, and sets the stage for all other communications. In addition, it quite often pulls in double digit responses.
2. Define the value: Personalized URLs are a great way to create individual value and support the customer relationship. Populate these sites with information that informs, involves and inspires consumers.
3. Address the lifestyle: Consumers use multiple channels to manage their world and so should we. We are always connected to some form of communications – text, phone, email, websites, networks. Ignoring these channels is simply ignoring what matters most to your customers.
