Consumer Interactivity In Advertising
“Consumer Interactivity In Advertising” – Really seems like we are talking of a path breaking new discovery that will alter the life of marketing in years to come?? Some how, we make interactivity sound as if it is extremely complex to integrate into our existing models of advertising. However; in our ever increasing drive to make businesses complex so that clients can believe we deliver rocket science for them; we have forgotten that interactivity has been a part of advertising ever since advertising in its first form took fruition. It is, after all, the world’s second oldest profession.
On that note, lets just think of the world’s oldest profession; the skin trade. Even in its medieval times; that business could not have survived without a high level of consumer interactivity. There was advertising to sell the service; in fact; at a lot, lot more customized level than it exists now; but the customer interactivity was a necessity to ensure that the advertising led to business returns for the provider. However; although interactive; this form of advertising dealt with only a one-to-one marketing approach
As times moved on and the customer evolved; advertising evolved too; but in the process moved from interactive advertising to one way messaging. With a limitation in the number of platforms available and the increasing need to go mass with a minimum level of media wastage; utilizing media such as television, outdoor and newspaper advertising made perfect sense. Hence the need for targeting multiple consumers using one message; advertising moved from being one-to-one to adopting a one-to-many approach
However; with the evolution of platforms that allow for a significantly high level of interaction between marketers and consumers; there is no option for advertisers but to modify their business models to incorporate the interactivity. There is an increasing need to improve the level of interaction between the brand and the consumer to ensure not just consideration but loyalty. This, many times, requires a dialogue and not just a one way messaging approach. Hence, interactivity has basically ,moved communication from being a one-to-many approach to a many-to-many method of interaction
The e-commerce revolution followed by the mcommerce age leading upto the current craze in terms of direct to home and pay-per-view (being brought to India by Dish TV and Tata Sky) have all played their role in reducing the gap between the consumer and the marketer. And as advertising moves on; there will be many avenues to discover new ways of talking to the consumer in a more interactive manner. There will be opportunities for advertisers to take consumer interaction to the next level.
Hence; it is imperative for us to understand what are the tenets that drive interaction with the consumer in the advertising space. We need to understand that moving ahead; dialogue will lead our trade and not just messaging. We need to understand that even with the large consumer set; there will be consumers who are more influential to a particular category than others. We call this new set of consumers as Prosumers.
Prosumers are more tuned into the category than others because they are genuinely interested in the products. However; pure advertising alone is not enough to influence Prosumers. The reason for this is that they are extremely skeptical in their approach towards the adoption of any product. They believe in experimentation and it is therefore a challenge for marketers to be present in places where the interaction happens between the product and the Prosumers.
The reason why it will become increasingly tough to neglect the Prosumers is because of their extremely high propensity to communicate. A Prosumer talks about a good or bad experience with 9 people whereas a consumer talks to only two. Hence they are extremely influential human media. But, marketers need to push themselves to achieve newer levels of interactivity between their product and the Prosumers to ensure sampling as well as consideration.
Hence; we need to understand that Prosumers have become more demanding and all questions they pose cannot be answered in a 30 second commercial or a smart headline. As they say; “God lies in the small details”. Well, guess what, so does the Prosumer and providing him a platform to access all the details he needs will lead the way in times to come.
Prosumers most importantly aid marketers in achieving the basic premise of interactive marketing; i.e. creating a two-way communication channel. Interactive marketing; if we leave all the tools and the jargons aside aims at allowing the marketer to know his customer better at the same time letting the customer know the brand better. Herein lies a large role for targeting Prosumers as they make the task of communicating to them about the product easy. Their inherent interest in the category will ensure that as long as awareness for the product exists, they will be informed about it.
From this point onwards, the marketer needs to take over and convince the Prosumers that their products suit his/her interest. This requires skillfully creating brand connect through tapping areas of interest of the target audience; i.e. taking the two way dialogue into parts of their lives that are open to experimenting with the category. This is the very reason why product placements are considered so essential to marketing plans now than ever before.
Thus; the challenge in achieving increased consumer interactivity; though; lies in skillfully integrating the brand into the subject being presented so that it captivates and engages the consumer. There have been stellar examples of this integration; the most effective being that of Pepsi.
Pepsi used to have a test commercial they did and ran on the late great Interactive Network. The idea was, you'd be watching Jeopardy and playing the game at home and then the screen would say, 'Watch the following commercial, you'll be asked questions and you'd be given a prize if you get them all right.' Then a Pepsi commercial would come on and suddenly you'd be looking at a Pepsi commercial, trying to memorize things about it. You were so much more involved than if you just saw a Pepsi commercial in standard programming.
There have been similar attempts in the Indian diaspora as well. Reality television provides a high degree of interaction between the consumer and the product using “sms” as the key platform to support this interactivity. Another stunning example of increasing interactivity is a show on SET called Jassi wherein the viewers would download ringtones of the show thus acting as human media for the show itself by integrating a part of the show into a part of their life. Jassi; in fact; pioneered consumer interactivity on Indian television; most of the initiatives like flash mobs, “sms” your views, etc have become a regular feature on all shows now.
Radio as a medium too has been slightly more evolved in achieving the consumer interactivity. Shows like “Maalamaal Please” on Radio One and similar shows on other stations allow people to win prizes for just listening intently to their shows.
Even retail has used consumer interactivity to their advantage. Using couponing and loyalty cards; they have found access to consumer information that they would have otherwise have had trouble collating. Using the personal information of the consumers coupled with their purchase trends; they are now able to customize discount schemes and sales that interest every single consumer walking into their doorstep. Walmart; Cosco have all been pioneers in this space.
Pay-per-view as a model has created tremendous impact on consumer interactivity. It achieves what would have seemed an almost impossible task a few years ago; placing your brand in a space where the consumer is seeking information about a similar/related product. Again; interactivity coupled with intelligent media selection to achieve amazing results.
Amazon.com is another organization that has revolutionized interactive marketing. Every time a person logs in; the purchase interests of the consumer are mapped. The next time the person logs in; there is a section that lists new releases/books that may interest the person based on his previous searches. This level of customization allows for not just customer satisfaction but customer. A truly wonderful example of interactive marketing used to woo the consumer.
Clearly, many many examples exist where consumer interactivity has been used to achieve phenomenal returns for marketers. There is no question about the fact that going forward; consumer interactivity will drive advertising. The real challenge lies in channeling that interaction to ensure that our brands are seen a positive light. Increasing the channels of two-way communication also ensures that the brand a lot of positive word of mouth.
Buzz marketing is an interactive marketing tool that creates massive impact. By getting into situations that are commonplace to the consumer; this marketing methodology ensures that message delivery is achieved through generating interest driven largely by orchestrating word of mouth advertising. “Whatiteez” became a buzz word for Pepper Chakkar precisely because it generated a lot of positive word of mouth for the brand due to its massive interactive drive. From sms to internet to games to mall excercises, the works were rolled out to drive the message for the brand and the results were there for all to see. A fitting example of how increased consumer interactivity can drive a brand’s success.
Yes, the opportunities are many and they will only increase in times to come. But that does not necessarily mean that our lives will become easier as advertisers and marketers. Effectively using the interactivity to touch the consumer will become imperative. Hence; messaging will need to be sharper; more focused and as times move on will also become more customized. Let’s just say that Steven Spielberg’s vision of what advertising will be in 2025 in his movie “Minority Report” may just be achieved in 2010. How we will manage this surge in interactivity to our advantage as marketers will essentially chart the future of our relationship with our consumers.
“Consumer Interactivity In Advertising” – Really seems like we are talking of a path breaking new discovery that will alter the life of marketing in years to come?? Some how, we make interactivity sound as if it is extremely complex to integrate into our existing models of advertising. However; in our ever increasing drive to make businesses complex so that clients can believe we deliver rocket science for them; we have forgotten that interactivity has been a part of advertising ever since advertising in its first form took fruition. It is, after all, the world’s second oldest profession.
On that note, lets just think of the world’s oldest profession; the skin trade. Even in its medieval times; that business could not have survived without a high level of consumer interactivity. There was advertising to sell the service; in fact; at a lot, lot more customized level than it exists now; but the customer interactivity was a necessity to ensure that the advertising led to business returns for the provider. However; although interactive; this form of advertising dealt with only a one-to-one marketing approach
As times moved on and the customer evolved; advertising evolved too; but in the process moved from interactive advertising to one way messaging. With a limitation in the number of platforms available and the increasing need to go mass with a minimum level of media wastage; utilizing media such as television, outdoor and newspaper advertising made perfect sense. Hence the need for targeting multiple consumers using one message; advertising moved from being one-to-one to adopting a one-to-many approach
However; with the evolution of platforms that allow for a significantly high level of interaction between marketers and consumers; there is no option for advertisers but to modify their business models to incorporate the interactivity. There is an increasing need to improve the level of interaction between the brand and the consumer to ensure not just consideration but loyalty. This, many times, requires a dialogue and not just a one way messaging approach. Hence, interactivity has basically ,moved communication from being a one-to-many approach to a many-to-many method of interaction
The e-commerce revolution followed by the mcommerce age leading upto the current craze in terms of direct to home and pay-per-view (being brought to India by Dish TV and Tata Sky) have all played their role in reducing the gap between the consumer and the marketer. And as advertising moves on; there will be many avenues to discover new ways of talking to the consumer in a more interactive manner. There will be opportunities for advertisers to take consumer interaction to the next level.
Hence; it is imperative for us to understand what are the tenets that drive interaction with the consumer in the advertising space. We need to understand that moving ahead; dialogue will lead our trade and not just messaging. We need to understand that even with the large consumer set; there will be consumers who are more influential to a particular category than others. We call this new set of consumers as Prosumers.
Prosumers are more tuned into the category than others because they are genuinely interested in the products. However; pure advertising alone is not enough to influence Prosumers. The reason for this is that they are extremely skeptical in their approach towards the adoption of any product. They believe in experimentation and it is therefore a challenge for marketers to be present in places where the interaction happens between the product and the Prosumers.
The reason why it will become increasingly tough to neglect the Prosumers is because of their extremely high propensity to communicate. A Prosumer talks about a good or bad experience with 9 people whereas a consumer talks to only two. Hence they are extremely influential human media. But, marketers need to push themselves to achieve newer levels of interactivity between their product and the Prosumers to ensure sampling as well as consideration.
Hence; we need to understand that Prosumers have become more demanding and all questions they pose cannot be answered in a 30 second commercial or a smart headline. As they say; “God lies in the small details”. Well, guess what, so does the Prosumer and providing him a platform to access all the details he needs will lead the way in times to come.
Prosumers most importantly aid marketers in achieving the basic premise of interactive marketing; i.e. creating a two-way communication channel. Interactive marketing; if we leave all the tools and the jargons aside aims at allowing the marketer to know his customer better at the same time letting the customer know the brand better. Herein lies a large role for targeting Prosumers as they make the task of communicating to them about the product easy. Their inherent interest in the category will ensure that as long as awareness for the product exists, they will be informed about it.
From this point onwards, the marketer needs to take over and convince the Prosumers that their products suit his/her interest. This requires skillfully creating brand connect through tapping areas of interest of the target audience; i.e. taking the two way dialogue into parts of their lives that are open to experimenting with the category. This is the very reason why product placements are considered so essential to marketing plans now than ever before.
Thus; the challenge in achieving increased consumer interactivity; though; lies in skillfully integrating the brand into the subject being presented so that it captivates and engages the consumer. There have been stellar examples of this integration; the most effective being that of Pepsi.
Pepsi used to have a test commercial they did and ran on the late great Interactive Network. The idea was, you'd be watching Jeopardy and playing the game at home and then the screen would say, 'Watch the following commercial, you'll be asked questions and you'd be given a prize if you get them all right.' Then a Pepsi commercial would come on and suddenly you'd be looking at a Pepsi commercial, trying to memorize things about it. You were so much more involved than if you just saw a Pepsi commercial in standard programming.
There have been similar attempts in the Indian diaspora as well. Reality television provides a high degree of interaction between the consumer and the product using “sms” as the key platform to support this interactivity. Another stunning example of increasing interactivity is a show on SET called Jassi wherein the viewers would download ringtones of the show thus acting as human media for the show itself by integrating a part of the show into a part of their life. Jassi; in fact; pioneered consumer interactivity on Indian television; most of the initiatives like flash mobs, “sms” your views, etc have become a regular feature on all shows now.
Radio as a medium too has been slightly more evolved in achieving the consumer interactivity. Shows like “Maalamaal Please” on Radio One and similar shows on other stations allow people to win prizes for just listening intently to their shows.
Even retail has used consumer interactivity to their advantage. Using couponing and loyalty cards; they have found access to consumer information that they would have otherwise have had trouble collating. Using the personal information of the consumers coupled with their purchase trends; they are now able to customize discount schemes and sales that interest every single consumer walking into their doorstep. Walmart; Cosco have all been pioneers in this space.
Pay-per-view as a model has created tremendous impact on consumer interactivity. It achieves what would have seemed an almost impossible task a few years ago; placing your brand in a space where the consumer is seeking information about a similar/related product. Again; interactivity coupled with intelligent media selection to achieve amazing results.
Amazon.com is another organization that has revolutionized interactive marketing. Every time a person logs in; the purchase interests of the consumer are mapped. The next time the person logs in; there is a section that lists new releases/books that may interest the person based on his previous searches. This level of customization allows for not just customer satisfaction but customer. A truly wonderful example of interactive marketing used to woo the consumer.
Clearly, many many examples exist where consumer interactivity has been used to achieve phenomenal returns for marketers. There is no question about the fact that going forward; consumer interactivity will drive advertising. The real challenge lies in channeling that interaction to ensure that our brands are seen a positive light. Increasing the channels of two-way communication also ensures that the brand a lot of positive word of mouth.
Buzz marketing is an interactive marketing tool that creates massive impact. By getting into situations that are commonplace to the consumer; this marketing methodology ensures that message delivery is achieved through generating interest driven largely by orchestrating word of mouth advertising. “Whatiteez” became a buzz word for Pepper Chakkar precisely because it generated a lot of positive word of mouth for the brand due to its massive interactive drive. From sms to internet to games to mall excercises, the works were rolled out to drive the message for the brand and the results were there for all to see. A fitting example of how increased consumer interactivity can drive a brand’s success.
Yes, the opportunities are many and they will only increase in times to come. But that does not necessarily mean that our lives will become easier as advertisers and marketers. Effectively using the interactivity to touch the consumer will become imperative. Hence; messaging will need to be sharper; more focused and as times move on will also become more customized. Let’s just say that Steven Spielberg’s vision of what advertising will be in 2025 in his movie “Minority Report” may just be achieved in 2010. How we will manage this surge in interactivity to our advantage as marketers will essentially chart the future of our relationship with our consumers.
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