Marketing and communication in 2011. How to cut through the crap. #3

SO HERE WE ARE IN 2011. Never has there been a more competitive time to be in the business of marketing. There have never been more ways of spending budgets. There has never been more pressure on budgets. Or, come to that, more theories about what you should and shouldn’t be doing. What is clear is that whilst many are waffling on about this trend and that development, some are simply getting on with doing things that get results. We are some of those people. And this is some of how we do it.

PART 3: FOCUS YOUR COMMUNICATION ON CHANGING BEHAVIOUR, NOT JUST CHANGING ATTITUDE.

A lot of communication today has as its goal small shifts in perception or attitude.

Ultimately, the hope is that this will influence people’s decision-making when it comes to selecting a brand or choosing a product.

But attitude change is a relatively small ambition when it comes to communication.

Incremental shifts in perception that may or may not pay off in the long run might be fine if you are a market leader, established for generations, or willing to wait ten years for payback.

But for most companies, to copy this behaviour is to drastically under exploit the potential of communication.

Communication which has the aim of actually getting people to do something, or change the way they do something, is a more robust way to build a brand.

And there’s no reason why this kind of communication can’t also leave people with the same positive feelings towards a brand as communication that only attempts to generate positive feelings. (For how to do this, see PART 1, CREATIVITY & CRAFT.)

PART 1: CREATIVITY & CRAFT ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
PART 2: THE BEST COMMUNICATION IS STILL ABOUT PEOPLE

WITH A DOFF OF THE CAP TO BOB.