“Can you get your idea to spread or not?” – Seth Godin.

This is a question that sits at the heart of just about every project I touch these days. Brands are looking for clever ways to reach more customers and get their ‘story’ and their ‘message’ out there. As consumers we have become an always on society bombarded with a myriad of ideas, options and alternatives to consume. And with soo many choices and less time available the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff…unless of course it is remarkable. Something that people want to make a remark about, creating conversational value – a story to add to their life story, providing value, purpose and meaning. Isn’t that what we all want from what we consume and we share?

Lets take a look at television:

Q. How many good TVCs are there Vs Bad TVCs on television right now? How many good TVCs can you recall seeing on television in the last week vs how many you actually watched and remembered? TV advertising is about average products for average people. Hard to be remarkable, easy to ignore. Obviously relevance is key to all of us, but just because it is relevant it doesn’t mean we are going to remember it and share with friends, family and beyond.

Being quite biased towards the web 2.0, I see the internet as a network of people who seek, snack and share –  be it on desktop, mobile, tablet, smart tv, game console etc. Brands need to focus on people who are listening, care and who are likely to tell their friends – their ‘tribe’?

Meaningful interaction is the key experience – through meaningful interaction people invite brands into their daily lives – it is all about pull, not push. Meaningful Interaction that leads to conversational value and brand advocacy – getting the idea to spread.

Create campaigns and brand stories that invite people in and create 2 way conversations, bottom up, consumer centric. We do this through understanding consumer insights and clever thinking around narrative and technology – seamlessly connecting the dots between brand and consumer to friend, family and social networks. Your brand is not what you say it is, it is what people say it is, this is the truth. So brands need to create honest and compelling stories that the right people want to talk about and share – create experiences, playgrounds, become a provider & facilitator, not just a product, not just a message.

To enable this and create a standout campaign or piece of marketing genius it requires method, design and sprinkle of digital madness.

We work with a 5 step methodology that enables a project team to ask the right questions, get insights and prepare objectives for the best possible outcome.

This methodology has been used on a number of recent projects including: Toyota Access, Berocca Twist N Go Cam, VW Up!

To find out more contact Mike Corte.

See also:

References:
Brand Activation Strategy – Maurice Maas – Amsterdam, 2009 (Slideshare.net)