RE: Awareness vs Preference

/
I exchanged the following email with a former colleague....agree ? Let me know..

Colleague:
Awareness vs preference campaign - "Do you have a good definition? I am confused, in need of some good advice"

Me:
Hi, it could be semantics [of the client] or a true ask so I suggest to use a tried and tested model of advertising.

Awareness will drive recognition/attention - if you are a brand that wants to get people to know you or what you do that's fine but it doesn't pay the bills.

Preference would be an activity that gets people to choose your brand, or at least have the brand  amongst a considered set of competitors.

Hence in the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) - Awareness is the first step, with preference between Desire and Action.

So in summary, I don't think anybody really wants a brand preference campaign,  they want a Brand Action campaign with metrics that clearly deliver against the need of the client.

I would align a definition of what success looks like before doing anything - that way you will know if   million facebook fans is success or increasing sales by $10,000 per quarter... Hope this helps..


The Social Network II

/
"I was only saying the same things as my friends who work here, I just hit enter and went for lunch. I deleted it straight away, but my boss didn't see that as proper apology". 

It's only a matter of time before Anderson Cooper announces the sad but true 'sign of the times' faux pas....A sorry tale of the poor Gen Z multitasking intern who inadvertently announced on Linked In (while also auto posting on their blog, and twitter feed) their hatred of their employer, boss and leadership  using sms profanity of the most vulgarity ......
No, not a deleted  Facebook movie scene, but an observation of Linked In.  A once simple, uncluttered and intuitive professional networking platform that is transforming into a business social network.  Now filled with a landscape full of dashboards, ads, and tabs, and peppered with likes, comments, pictures (of babies ..perhaps) and youtube videos. 

Is the brand manoeuvring its way into future convergence with the hyper-stimulated, hyper-sticky, informational super-channel-esque - Facebook behemoth ? Fiction ?  Melodrama ?....Partial truth ?  Irrelevant !  As user numbers continue to increase and embrace the new experience, the business led by Jeff Weiner is an indellible disruptive force heading for an IPO. 

As I write this post, ad agency planners the world over are scheming to uncover killer insights,  brand managers vy to launch their first hybrid campaign, and media mavens are seeding content amongst the most coveted 'sociopro' influencers......

I used to love Linked In as I knew exactly why I was there, what I was going to do and how long I was going to spend there.  Yet the online version look and feel changes, added features, and constant refreshes echo the rhythm of Facebook, and I sense its now too late for them to dial back. My only solace is the Iphone version -  (the  app development team are genius architects for mobile).

Failure to understand their brand equity and user base may lead to the creation of a 'Bring back old Linked In' group.  Start to worry if a cut the rope 'corporate ladder edition' replaces the 'People you may know' section......

PS, while the opening quotation is currently fictitious, I sadly predict to see it reported true pretty soon.

qrcode

Quitting Facebook

/

Will there be a mass revolt to leave Facebook - or will Facebook prove savvy enough to fix the privacy issues and still remain 'sticky' ? This post is my response to a great question raised by Bob Knorpp at the Beancast - you can find his full question here.

Quitting Facebook
This issue is so emotive, hence upfront I must say that I empathize with people's frustrations, however I feel a lot of the sentiment is a function of a lack of understanding of the new digital age that we are in....Here's why.

On a personal level I am shocked at the lack of inhibition and naivety people have when they use a medium such as Facebook. Having seen the expression "get off my Facebook" a few times - it is clear that some people have become desensitized to any implication of 'Liking/following/friending' a person, product, brand, company, or cause, (or poking them for that matter !). Doing this on a platform such as Facebook is intrinsically a public and not a private event.

Change your mindset
You can guess where I am going .......We are proceeding through a digital revolution. With this change (eg akin to the industrial revolution) the old mindset of how things "ought" to be, how people "should" behave, how relationships "should" work no longer hold true. 

Nobody told you the rules have changed !
It is up to the individual to adapt.  Facebook is ultimately a powerful and open communication tool with the world, and if you want to keep things private - you must now resort to meeting face to face, sending a letter or even making a phone call ! Under the digital rules it is fine to change your mind - but up to (you) the individual to know how to undo or unlike or unfriend (and don't be surprised if it is not as easy as you would like it to be !!). Remember the rules changed when 'free' services such as Facebook and Myspace and Twitter installed themselves as indispensable platforms - that have greater reach and influence than tv.

I have amazingly popular and friends who were wise before their time and understood that to retain their privacy and avoid any risk of compromising they simply chose not to: blog, tweet, buzz, digg, or use facebook etc !

Staying Close
On a professional level Facebook (as per blog's, podcasts etc) have been transformative, and are an invaluable listening, learning and connecting tool. Ironically, in some companies these types of website could be on a 'blocked' list - yet are a way to build absolute closeness with consumers.

In conclusion.... I am not quitting Facebook, but I empathize with those that want to.