Blink advertising: Why won’t it work?

The onslaught of social media has shattered preconceived notions about marketing in the 21st century and has forever changed the way in which we, as producers, as consumers, as brands, as creators view advertising in both its online and real world avatars. The immense freedom and power afforded to users by social media has changed the information power equation between consumers and producers.

The way things are

Users are no longer dependent upon producers to provide them with information and content. Concepts such as Web 2.0 and social media have tipped the balance over and created an information explosion with consumers turning into creators of content and publishing their knowledge by virtue of social media tools like forums, blogs, and social networking sites. The interconnectivity between consumers leads to greater interaction that fuels conversations and opinions.

Consumers influence other consumers through their self-published materials and unfortunately for brands, the influence exerted by a fellow blogger or social networking 'friend' exceeds the influence bought by the millions of dollars spent in advertising.

The focus has shifted from the pros and cons of your product. The focus is upon how the consumer feels about the experience that your product has to offer. The experience and the opinion are what counts. Everything else is filtered out.

The state of things is that:


• Monologues of marketing are most likely to be ignored.
• Social media makes information transparent as well as authentic ("If you're not on Facebook, how do I know you’re not a bot?"
• Information spreads like lightning. (Twitter, Instant scrapping, mobile blogs)
• People will rather trust what they read on a friend’s blog than on a company brochure.
• Social media has changed customer expectations, requirements and behavior
  
  

The power has shifted to the consumers who are focused upon self-representation and self-image, in doing so they unconsciously attach greater significance to the representations of the brands they use in the online world as well. It is not enough to have a good real world reputation. If your brand image does not match up to their definition of online ‘cool’, then that is something to worry about.

What is to done?

Let your brand join the conversation by building stories around your brand. Stories that explain how the brand is a significant part of their lives and how it adds something rich and exciting to their experience. Don’t flash banners, learn how to carry on a conversation.