Successful Creative Campaigns Engage the Customer First. Period.

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Cost Segregation Study: Multiple Property Class Analysis (Excel workbook). Accountants, accounting firms, and real estate property owners can all benefit from this cost segregation study (CSS) template. It makes the estimated benefit easy to figure out and has flexible assumptions for high level or detailed segregation analysis. You get a summary of cost [read more]

* * * *

Successful Creative Campaigns Engage the Customer First. Period.

Brand, Product, and Service will Follow.

The growth rate for sharing and creating digital information is at an insane pace. According to Digital Trends, sharing data grew nine times larger from 2006-2011 and projections indicate that by 2015 people will be creating and sharing 8 zettabytes of information. A zettabyte is the absurd measurement that’s equal to 1.1 trillion gigabytes, that’s a mind-boggling amount of data.

This allows even the most obscure brand regardless of budget, to create, execute and evaluate the most incredible interpersonal ideas and engage with customers.

Campaigns that deliver and execute beyond one-sided linear communication and push the boundaries of client/customer relationships to seamless interpersonal communication will be far more successful. Linear communication positions their brand above the consumer. These campaigns start with the premise that their role is to anticipate and satisfy customer needs, wants and desires, while the customers subordinate role, is simply to learn, spend and be grateful. Interpersonal communication, on the other hand, is a two-way process in which the brand and the customer learn to anticipate and satisfy each other’s needs, wants and desires together, where the flow of information rewards both parties for facilitation and engagement.

I point out two unique examples. A digital campaign that speaks directly to a consumer with an apparent disconnect. For instance, if your demographic is 50 or older and you send a “Welcome to the Club,” mailing on their 50th Birthday, it all but suggests the onset of aging, and the misguided reminder that this demographic is now part of a “Special Club.” The “Club” is consciously selecting their “Brand” over their audience. A successful campaign, such as the new “Oreo Cookie” campaign effectively puts their audience above their brand. One, may argue that the “Oreo” Brand is far established, but its successful recipe can and should be utilized for any brand, even if the brand is new to the market. Oreo, gives us a memorable jingle, utilizing Electro-pop sensation Owl City. This automatically engages the younger demographic. They hear it, and without fail, know the artist. If there is a question in their mind, they simply engage and google. For the “new parent” demographic, you have the pure delight of “happy kids,” for the older demographic it gently reminds you of your youth, and to add to the concept of “Sharing,” it targets, just that, SHARE. Simple and pure, customer engagement.

With the growth rate of digital sharing and a simple rule, that your campaign should engage your customer, without fail, your brand, product or service will be remembered, valued and purchased.

Contributed by Janine Risk/Creative Director on June 13, 2013.

Do You Want to Implement Business Best Practices?

You can download in-depth presentations on 100s of management topics from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.

For even more best practices available on Flevy, have a look at our top 100 lists:

• Top 100 in Strategy & Transformation
• Top 100 in Digital Transformation
• Top 100 in Operational Excellence
• Top 100 in Organization & Change
• Top 100 Management Consulting Frameworks

These best practices are of the same as those leveraged by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Accenture. Improve the growth and efficiency of your organization by utilizing these best practice frameworks, templates, and tools. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with over 20+ years of experience.