One of the basic premises of successful marketing is to think like your audience. Yet the current quest to cram marketing messages into the appropriate “channels” means marketers have forgotten this truth.
Consumers don’t think in channels, they don’t work in channels, and they certainly don’t divide their day into channels. If we truly want to think like them, we have to stop boxing ourselves into digital vs. physical silos for our marketing messages.
One who gets this is Anthony Phalen from Google who, according to Debora Haskel in IWCODirect, addressed the crowd at the recent New England Direct Marketing Association Conference.
“Anthony reminded the NEDMA audience that consumers don’t think in terms of digital vs. physical and suggested marketers stop putting digital and offline advertising in separate silos,” Haskel writes. “Rather, we should continue to focus on an integrated strategy where digital experiences are enhancements, not distractions.”
Phalen related a story about a colleague who got ready for work while feeding the cat while checking her email…all without a single though about what channel she was in. With this example, he encouraged the audience to realize “there is no clutter for marketers to break through. Instead we must become a part of curated content.”
But what does that really mean?
To us, it is apparent that integration is the key. Understanding where print innovation meets digital ability means our messages engage more deeply and move the consumer conversation along. Like the now iconic Ikea catalog or the drinkable book that aims to save millions.
Embedding your message at the intersection of a consumer’s “channels,” not as an intrusion but as part of their day, is how we manage this new reality.
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