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ATTENTIONISM The Way of the Modern Marketer

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If you think about it, markeng seemed to be easier 50 yearsago. There were fewer brands, therefore, less competors. The

consumer was engaged by fewer brands. Every known brand

occupied a generous fracon of the consumer’s memory.

That situaon remains idyllic for most of us marketers and

adversers in the present day.

Have you ever wondered how many brands on average

a twenty-ve year old person has encountered? Hundreds?Thousands? Maybe tens of thousands if he or she happens

to work for the purchasing department of a naonwide

supermarket chain. Countless brands. If it’s not that person’s

job to neither remember nor recognize, how many brands per

category do you think can be easily recalled in an instant? Now

you can start counng.

You’re probably aware of the exisng condion of adversing nowadays. The number of brands saturates the

consumers as much as the number of adversements does. If

you’re in a category where there are virtually no competors,

you’re either lucky or clever. But if you’re not, then have you

ever thought of making any adjustments?

Preface




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With the overwhelming volume of ads that the consumers

encounter every day, the queson that begs to be asked is

not how we can reduce the cluer, but actually, how we can

succeed despite it. If accumulaon of ads does not slow down,how do you go around the problem? Or will you allow yourself

to operate as usual, ignoring what’s painfully obvious?

The way consumers perceive and process ads has changed,

which requires you to evolve as a marketer. The quality of

aenon that can be acquired from them should be given

more importance than the quanty that can be collected. If

there is one piece of advice that this e-book wants to give you,it is that capturing authenc consumer aenon starts with

YOU.

To receive authenc aenon from the consumers, your

aenon as a marketer must rst be directed to the issues

you have to confront. This e-book asserts four fundamental

proposions, namely:

> Aenon is a reward

> More touchpoints, more aenon

> Less cluer, greater impact

> Connecon beats impression

To view the list of contents, go to View> Navigation Panels> Bookmarks.

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ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

Have you ever wondered why aenon has to be paid instead

of just being given? There’s a much broader sense to aenon

than being a cognive or perceptual process. This psychological

concept has extensive implicaons in the dierent aspects of our life, which includes being a consumer.

As consumer of goods and services, we gradually learned that

not all ads are truthful to their claims. Good and bad experiences

created our fundamental insncts that point out aenon-

worthy ads from those that are not. Our maturity as individuals

and as consumers taught us how to deal with ads wisely.

Adversing is the commerce of aenon. Brands demand

aenon from consumers. Think of it as the opposite of supply

and demand for products: consumers demand products from

brands. Like the market of products, aenon operates on a

give-and-take system, but its distribuon is on a much larger

scale.

In the fast-paced life of most modern consumers, aenonis leanly allocated to overlapping tasks. Work, for example,

can extend beyond the days and hours of a ve-day nine-to-six

shi. People make work-related calls during dinner, research

online when they get home, or even go to the oce during

weekends.

PRODUCT

supply = brandsdemand = consumers

ATTENTION

supply = consumersdemand = brands



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

Very lile aenon is le for adversements, and yet,

adversers are present everywhere. The demand for aenon

is too high, while the supply is merely scarce. In any market

situaon similar to this, the leverage to command value iswith the suppliers. The consumers have gained every right to

dictate the worth of their aenon.

Adversers are at the losing end of this cultural wave. The

allotment of aenon for ads gets thinner as the volume

of compeng brands and adversements get thicker. Their

prospects, on the other hand, have nothing to lose if they

refuse to mind or entertain ads. They can nd what they needthe way they want it at the me they need to.

The big dierence between then and now is that adversers

can no longer treat aenon as a commodity. Not everyone

can own it. It’s a privilege to the brands that break away. It’s

the prize an adverser receives for uniqueness and cleverness.

Aenon is a medal of disncon for adversers who respect

consumers.

Aenon is a reward to the brands that deserve it.



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

Factors that affect consumer attention

Aenon comes in dierent shapes and sizes. It can either

be selecve or distributed. It may be overt or covert. Aenon

can be focused, sustained, alternang, or divided. Whateverquality of aenon you want to receive from your prospects,

the point of this book is to help you understand the nature of

the problem.

Three things aect the quality of aenon that your ad

receives:

1. The situaon of the ad2. The situaon of the consumer

3. The consumer’s own ability to perceive and process

Here are some examples to help you understand:

A collecon of more or less 70 billboards can be seen in an

adversing hotspot along the main avenue of Metro Manila’s

road network. This part of the highway is in between twotrain staons that are less than a kilometer apart. Around 40

billboards are along the northbound lane, and 30 along the

opposite lane. Let’s say you’re one of the adversers.

If your billboard is situated beside an ad that’s twice as big,

then you’re in a tough situaon. If your stac billboard is beside

Different factors affect consumerattention. To successfully communicate,both the brand and the prospect should

be in a favorable condition.



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

an LED billboard, your noceability is also low. If a typhoon is

coming and all ads were rolled up except yours, then you’ll

get most of the aenon. That includes the aenon of the

authories, of course.Now, let’s assume you’re the prospect. You’re traveling

northbound on your way home from work. Trac is moderate,

and it will take around 45 seconds to cross that area with

steady speed. 40 billboards in roughly 45 seconds will you

something like 1.125 seconds of aenon for each. That is, if

you like speed-reading billboards.

Let’s say trac is heavy and you have more me to read,

but you’re suering from a migraine. Okay, that’s too harsh.

What about you were on the phone taking notes from your

new boss, or maybe preoccupied with some trouble at home?

There’s lile chance that you’ll even mind the running text on

the electronic billboard.

Physical and nonphysical circumstances inuence the

aenon of consumers. Another aspect that can aect their

ability to perceive and process ads is age. Younger consumers

can observe and aend to more details, including informaon

that is irrelevant to them. Conversely, older people mostly care

about those that bear relevance.



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

If you happen to be 20 years of age, it’s doable to read a

billboard while acvely listening to a song. It’s highly possible

for you to remember the message on the billboard and the

chorus of the song you’ve heard for the rst me. If you were60, chances are you would choose between the two ads,

whichever is more relevant to you.

Attention, message recall, and mindshare

Media plays a vital role in receiving aenon. The choice of

medium can make or break an ad, because it is the consumers’

physical experience of the message. In order for an ad to

communicate with a prospect, the medium should provide

exposure, receive aenon, and then be sustained by the

relevance and value (informaon; or entertainment: humor,

drama, triumph, etc.) of the content it delivers.

Logically, a medium that receives aenon longer is moreeecve. In one of the previous examples, we reckoned that

only around one second (and 2.5% mindshare) could be

allocated for each of the 40 billboards. If your ad were not the

biggest in that cluer, then exploring other touchpoints and

media could be a beer investment.

The medium delivers the message.When it fails to attract attention, it

will fail to deliver the message.



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

Receiving high-quality aenon leads to beer recall of

your brand and message. More me and fewer distracons

will allow your message to sink in deeper. The experience

should compensate for the adverser’s lack of control over thevarying ability of prospects to receive and retain messages.

Beer recall of brand or message leads to greater mindshare.

Think about it: the spicy food you’re eang will be beer

disnguished if you take me to savor the avor. In your mind,

that experience will be posioned ahead of other gastronomic

experiences to remind you of that specic food the next me

you crave that ery avor.

Attention and word-of-mouth

Good aenon quality leads to beer recall, and beer

recalls leads to word-of-mouth. This domino eect can only

happen when a consumer encounters a message worthremembering, and then shares it with another consumer. The

push for the rst domino piece takes place when the prospect

rewards your ad with bona de aenon.

Explore media that receive longerattention and fewer distractions

to allow better retention of brandand message.

ATTENTIONISM A i d



ATTENTIONISM

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Aenon is a reward

A message worth remembering is worth sharing. Our role

as marketers is to aid its circulaon. We should nd ways to

make remembering and sharing easier for the consumers. By

priorizing the quality of communicaon over the quanty of impressions, building strong brand communies can become

easier.

ATTENTIONISM Th W f th M d M k t




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Section 2: More touchpoints,more attention

Centuries ago, there were only products. Businesses were

local. Word-of-mouth was the only means of markeng. Then

came the Industrial Revoluon. We built trains, ships, and

factories. Someme aer that, we created newspaper, radio,

and television. We made brands and markeng evolved.

Mass adversing techniques were used to sell common

products to common people. Mass distribuon of products met

mass distribuon of message. We treated consumer aenon

like the commodies we produced and sold. Ad saturaon

happened and the consumers evolved.

Now, we’re in another revoluon. We built computers and

mobile phones. Communicaon between consumers is easier.

Access to small manufacturers is quicker. Cost of adversing ischeaper. Aenon is scarcer. Trust in corporate brands is lower.

The rules of business have changed. Do you think markeng is

sll the same?

ATTENTIONISM More touchpoints more aenon



ATTENTIONISM

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More touchpoints, more aenon

It remains to be true that consumers will keep buying

the products and services they want. All buying decisions

are emoonal, and we only raonalize them to support the

decisions we want. What changes constantly is our environmentas consumers and how decisions are made to adapt to ever-

progressing situaons.

Awareness and mass media

Mass adversing is based on the assumpon that tradional

media has the aenon of the consumers. The technique was

proven eecve during its era, but it shouldn’t be surprising

if it has changed aer y years. The way people consume

tradional media has changed, so marketers must also adjust

the way it is used for adversing.

Marketers should become less dependent on tradional

media in generang awareness. The four steps to a consumer’spercepon of a brand suggest a raonal sequence that explains

the case: exposure, aenon, awareness, and retenon.

The rst two steps are the funcons of a medium, while the

remaining two are of an ad.

Marketers must continously evolveas consumers do.




ATTENTIONISM

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Since scarcity of authenc aenon is the problem, then

increasing the frequency of exposure to tradional “shotgun”

media will only add more waste. Only target-specic

touchpoints that present opportunies to engage can improve

sales conversion raos and cost-eciency rates.

The A-I-D-A sales model also juses the degree of

importance that aenon-focused markeng gives to turning

prospects into customers. Aenon (or awareness), as the

rst step of the process, is crucial in pushing more prospects

to advance to the next phases: Interest, Desire, and Acon (or

purchase).

Your company may not embrace this philosophy overnight,

but it maers that you uphold the principles. Marketers are at

the heart of every organizaon. Change begins with YOU.

Quality over quantity

Generang awareness by using non-tradional media is not

a minor change. Invesng in new touchpoints and new forms of

media is not a convenonal technique for most organizaons.

We have experienced what mass media can do for us in the

Increasing the frequency of ads willnot solve the scarcity of attention.




ATTENTIONISM

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past, and it’s not that easy to let go. But as the sad saying goes,

all good things come to an end.

Exploring new touchpoints where untapped prospects

can be reached would be a good alternave to spending onrepeve ads in tradional media. Repeated exposure of the

same ad rarely changes the mind of an unimpressed consumer.

Improving the ways communicaon is executed can provide

beer awareness and retenon.

Improving old touchpoints can be done by observing the

culture of the consumers and following the trends that aect

them. In a retail outlet, it pays to watch how customers

move inside to spot the paerns that lead to good and bad

results. On the other hand, creang new touchpoints requires

staying on top of possible opportunies and revoluonizing

your vision or standards. One example is adjusng the way a

business operates to adopt the useful technological tools that

can speed up a process.

In New Markeng, niche and aenon are two important

aspects in dealing with prospects. Communicang with small

crowds that are target-specic and aenon-rich is far more

eecve than adversing to large crowds where the hits are

Repeated eposure to the samemessage rarely changes the mind

of a consumer.




ATTENTIONISM

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high but connecon is poor. New Markeng is about quality,

not quanty.

Let’s say I own a chain of Italian restaurants and I want to

promote my new menu for summer. With my permission-baseddatabase (they gave their contact details for a scoop of gelato

last summer), I can contact my shortlist of loyal customers for

the announcement. I will send invitaons through the MMS

soware I’ve downloaded:

“Present this coupon to our cashier via Bluetooth for a

20% discount on new food entries.

Send this to three of your friends for a free dessert

when you dine together.”

By using a reliable database, a medium that they hardly

ignore, and an oer they’ll barely be able to resist, I can

adverse successfully without spending much. Every MMS

passed is extra mileage. I wouldn’t have to pay for unqualied

prospects. The campaign is also fun, since it involves friends,gadgets, and free food.




ATTENTIONISM

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Diversity over frequency

So they say you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.

We’ve heard this a lot from investment advisers, but how manyof us have ever given it a fair amount of thought? It’s a good

take on rethinking our campaigns.

A sensible investment plan involves spreading resources.

This pracce is beyond a play-safe measure to simply reduce

the risk of instant failure. Its sheer brilliance lies in building

mulple areas in which to succeed. Financial security is achieved

through dierent sources of earnings, plus opportunies forgrowth in the long run.

In adversing campaigns, invesng resources in a mix of

media creates signicant value. Establishing your presence

with dierent touchpoints can improve the response rate of

communicaon eorts. In case a prospect misses one ad or

event, the other strategic situaons or locaons can sll make

the encounter possible.

Diversifying your media porolio doesn’t mean you have

to spend more. It only means that you have to ulize more

available alternaves and less tradional means. Consumers

TRADITIONAL

APROACH

quantitativeaverage targets

crowdimpressions

repetitiondistance

DIVERSIFIED

APROACH

qualitativetarget-specic nichesengagement

varietycloseness

ATTENTIONISM More touchpoints, more aenon



ATTENTIONISM

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became less dependent on the convenonal methods because

a lot of other opons became available.

A young urban professional who used to be a TV junkie

in college can aord to skip her favorite show when workingextra hours or dining with friends aer work. She doesn’t

worry about the program because she can stream it online or

download it for free from a number of le-sharing sites. Best

of all, the episodes she watches are commercial-free.

Balanced approach

According to Mark Hughes, author of the bestseller

Buzzmarkeng, diversifying your media mix is a more balanced

approach. It makes sense if you think about your own diet.

Taking dierent nutrients in moderaon results in beer

physical health. A balanced diet can be obtained by acquiring

essenal nutrients from dierent sources.Balancing your media diet can produce greater results.

Every medium has its own potency—it aids a specic need.

Using the same medium over and over only solves the same

problem. The case of aenon crisis in modern consumers is a

developing disease that needs a new prescripon.

A balanced media diet leadsto a healthier brand.




ATTENTIONISM

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Big sh, small sh

We sh for consumers. That’s what we do. We’re shermen

and the brand is our shing boat. Our tool is a shnet. Itrepresents the touchpoints and media of our campaign. The

mesh of your shnet becomes ner as you increase the variety

of touchpoints and media. You are more likely to catch more

sh as the mesh becomes ner.

The diversied approach can entrap shes that tradional

adversing fails to catch. Mass adversing is about catching

all sorts of sh, while the diversied media approach is aboutcapturing the parcular sh you want. A smart sherman

knows how sh behave. A smart sherman also knows the

dierent methods of using the net. A smart sherman explores

where no one shes.

Big ideas, small packages

Another way to visualize a diversied media approach

is to think about a jigsaw puzzle. One media component of

a campaign is equivalent to one puzzle piece. All pieces are

about the same size, but each puzzle piece is enrely unique.




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p ,

No piece can substute for another. It’s a game of what to pick

and when to pick it.

A marketer must start with the most recognizable pieces

and then put them in place insncvely. The rest of the pieceswill follow, as the image becomes more apparent. By keeping

the campaign objecve (the picture you want to complete) in

mind, the next media components (the puzzle pieces) can be

easily recognized.

A campaign that has more components has a higher chance

of meeng objecves. Example: a puzzle containing only four

pieces will lose one-fourth of the picture when a piece is lost.A puzzle that has more pieces can endure losing a few small

parts.

Come to think of it, consumers are just like puzzle pieces.

No two consumers are the same in the way they choose and

consume brands, ads, and media. In fact, no consumer can

precisely idenfy his or her own behavior when it comes to

selecon and consumpon. An eager marketer knows that

delivering the campaign message using dierent media and

execuons has its benets.

Create multiple executionsfor different touchpoints and

media to cater to the consumer

subgroups of your brand.




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p

Word-of-mouth advantage

Invesng in more touchpoints gives a new meaning to

pung money where your mouth is. Diversifying the mediamix generates more buzz. It allows segregaon of the brand’s

consumer market to smaller niches, where communicang

with each group can be precise. It can spark and circulate

word-of-mouth in dierent communicaon channels, where

all are poinng towards an overall topic (or buzz).

Word-of-mouth also makes real-life endorsers. It is

unarguably more eecve than any form of adversing becauseit is built on trust. As consumers, we believe in the tesmonies

of the people we trust and admire more than anything that

celebrity endorsers say. It happens in dierent touchpoints

within and outside an organizaon.

Ads in tradional media that don’t receive enough aenon

only result in hits or impressions. Ads in touchpoints that

receive beer-quality aenon can drive posive word-of mouth and establish a deeper connecon with consumers and

communies.

Diversify your touchpounts andmedia to create multiple sources

of word-of-mouth.




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I want to start our discussion on cluer with some serious

quotaons from some serious people:

“The rise of adversing volume coincided with a

decline in adversing eecveness… Every adversing

eecveness study shows the same results. The more

adversing in a given medium, the less eecve each

individual adversement is… As adversing volume

has increased, adversing messages have become

wallpaper… It’s not only the volume of adversing that

works against its eecveness, it’s also the number of

dierent messages the average individual is exposed

to.” – Al Ries & Laura Ries

“Today great ads don’t cut through cluer. They don’t

get the chance. They are overlooked as we avoid all

those bad ads that came rst.” – Erwin Ephron

That prey much sums up our discussion. If you agree

to what you’ve just read and you want to do away with the

details, you can proceed to the next secon of this book.

Section 3: Less clutter, more impact

ATTENTIONISM Less cluer, more impact



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If you want to indulge, then be my guest. I will support

the claims stated above in the next pages that you’ll read.

You might nd some ideas complex or controversial, while

some are obvious, yet oenmes overlooked or disregarded.

Examine them closely, take whatever is useful, and throw away

the rest. Less is more.

Family tree

If I were to name ve factors that inuenced the modern

consumer behavior, these would be the abundance of brands,

mass producon, frequency and reach, convenient targeng,

and interrupon. Each one directly contributed to DNA of the

consumers we deal with today. Here’s how the genes descended:

1. Most brands used to be born with good intenons. Brands

were created to answer specic needs. But sasfying the

consumers’ nature to seek beer opons has reached thepoint beyond sasfying their need for adversements.

Saturated markets bred ad-saturated consumers. Same

touchpoints, same media; similar oers, similar ads. Me-

too brands defeat the essence of their existence, that’s why

consumers rarely mind them.

Factors that caused attention-scarcity:

Abundance of brandsMass Production

Frequency and reachConvenient targeting

Interruption




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2. Most big brands mass-produce and mass-distribute to earn

enough prot to mass-adverse. Consumers pay for ads

they despise. Big corporate brands receive lower trust rates

from smart consumers nowadays, giving independent

brands a chance to ourish. They adverse eecvely, not

excessively, to reach their prospects without spending much.

Consumers give them genuine recognion in exchange for

economic jusce.

3. Frequency and reach became the standard for measuring

media eecveness. The TV-adversing culture brought

about this lucrave pracce. The model is limited mostly tophysical aributes like age, gender, and income—aributes

that are easily measurable. Frequency and reach neither

touched the quality of aenon nor the behavior and

the situaon of consumers (see p.4, Factors that aect

consumer aenon), simply because they’re extremely

dicult to measure. Frequency and reach was much more

convenient to defend, albeit the low accuracy of targeng.

4. Low accuracy of targeng was a birthing pain that adversing

media never outgrew unl the Internet and mobile plaorms

developed. Adversers paid for unqualied prospects that

were within the frequency and reach of tradional media.

TV, for example, is not eecve in demographic, geographic,



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Lose-lose situation

The consumers’ mind is a gooey pie, and every brand wants

a slice of it. Cluer or sans cluer, the real compeon happensin the prospects’ mind. Not outdoors, not in a newspaper, not

on a at screen. The shelf space you want to own is inside

their heads, and aenon is your only way in. Cluer is your

main competor.

If you want to win a bigger slice of that pie, you’ll have to cut

it yourself. Cung away from cluer to achieve beer recall is

not convenient; it requires marketers to make hard decisions.If an agency is involved, marketers must demand other media

opons than those they can easily access and control. Media

that are less prone to cluer are harder to nd, but will reap

more mindshare for the brand.

Consumers receive an overwhelming amount of informaon

everyday, and your message can get lost anywhere in

between. Compeve separaon is very important, especiallyto growing brands that are carving their niche. A degree of

physical distance from competors will help separate the

brand’s identy and message in a prospect’s percepon. Since

the medium delivers the ad, it must stay away from cluer to

enjoy the benets.

The mind of the consumer is theshelf space you want to own. Clutterprevents you from getting there.




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No one wins in a cluered situaon. Every ad that contributes

to it only earns less aenon. Parcipang in saturated

environments will only require you to spend a lot more to

receive a lile more. The volume of adversements is inversely

proporonal to its eecveness. No maer how creave your

ad may be, consumers will not experience its full eect.

It’s an “overcommunicated society,” as described by Trout

and Ries some thirty years ago. And communicang itself is the

problem. Imagine what superlave prex they could have used

if they were describing the present.

Realiscally speaking, the world doesn’t need anotheradversement. People will need spare heads to absorb all the

informaon they encounter every day. Oversimplify your ideas,

nd your niche, and use media that receive high quality of

aenon if you’re really serious about ROI.

Tweak your way out

A medium of whatever kind is just a tool. Just like any tool,

like a hammer or a frying pan, the results depend on the way

it is used. The marketer who uses it is sll accountable for

the results. If you want to sck to the tradional means, no

The volume of ads is inverselyproportional to its effectiveness.




29/45

one can stop you from doing so. But please, try tweaking the

medium, at least.

With an ad-saturated crowd, it’s just not enough to just come

up with a wiy headline or a playful visual. Some tweaks onthe medium are required to aract more aenon when using

a tradional format. When the medium is integrated in the

message, the tradional ad becomes non-tradional in essence.

Remember those two Pond’s billboards by Ogilvy back in

2006? One featured a mannequin dressed-up as a janitor,

and the other had the tarpaulin folded over the model’s face.

Or those Kit Kat TV spots by JWT in late 2010 that seamlesslyresembled a newsash, although the “reporter” did not deliver

the news? Those ads had insights on the pre-exisng qualies

of the medium and how people perceived it. Hands down, they

were great!

The dierent forms of media, tradional or non-tradional,

vary in eecveness, depending on the ability to receive genuine

aenon and the way these are used to deliver ads. Some forms

like electronic billboards and email markeng are considered

non-tradional, but they are subject to cluer and malpracce

due to how they are used. A marketer must use every medium

with extreme vigilance to yield the desired results.


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Clutter and cookie-cutter

Tradional ads can be eecve in places where Internet

and cable TV connecons are scarce, recreaonal sites are

few or non-existent, and other sources of free or inexpensive

entertainment like TV, radio, and news tabloids are virtually

unavailable. Otherwise, pouring your budget into these media

is a potenally costly mistake.

Fred, a young urban professional living in the Metro, rarely

stays home because there are malls that are just minutes away.

He spends an hour switching through more than forty dierentchannels before sleeping. He doesn’t read the broadsheets

in the oce because he’s too busy. He commutes with his

headphones stuck in his ears. Communicang with him and

the other consumers that he represents is almost impossible

with tradional media.

If he is your part of your market, you can ght with other

adversers over his split-second aenon using the samemeans that they do, or you can ouhink them by using cluer-

free media in places and mes where and when Fred can noce

you more. It all boils down to the quality of aenon you want

to receive from him. His mobile phone stays within ten feet,

ninety percent of the me. He visits the oce restroom four

Use clutter-free media in situationswhere the consumers are receptive

to communication.




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mes a day. He sits inside the bus for two hours everyday. He

sweats in the gym for three hours every week. Many exclusive

moments are just waing to be discovered.

Non-tradional ads use creave ideas and innovavemedia to break away from cluer and sameness. Atypical and

surprising ads are more inuenal and memorable. Some

even use non-media to catch consumers by surprise; with ash

mobs and street acts, people carry and deliver the message.

There are many forms of communicaon that take place

in a society. Adversing is just one, and the truth is it is not

revered from the point of view of the consumer. This realitychallenges adversers who want to be rewarded to stand out.

Too many brands, so lile me. Media or non-media, your task

to communicate should be deliberately delivered away from

any cluer and cookie-cuer.




32/45

A brand only gets a chance to communicate when a prospect

pays aenon. An adverser can only succeed if the eort to

communicate is creave and strategic enough to be in a place,

me, and condion that the prospect is capable of paying

aenon. Once aenon is rewarded, the opportunity can be

further extended to establishing a CONNECTION.

An opportunity to connect is the sum of being aenon-

worthy, exploring more touchpoints and media, and stayingaway from cluer.

Bullet time

A consumer only gives lile aenon to assess whether

it’s worth engaging or not. This short span is the ONLY chancea marketer gets to convince a semi-engaged consumer. If the

communicaon act or material doesn’t sasfy the consumer’s

criteria for relevance and value, aenon will be withdrawn. If

the content qualies, longer aenon is rewarded. While the

Section 4: Connection beats impression

ATTENTIONISM Connecon beats impression



33/45

defense is temporarily down, the marketer gets a shot to fully

engage the consumer.

Bite the bullet

Let’s face it. Aenon is scarce and perishable. If we can’t

view it from a beer perspecve, it will be very hard to earn

the reward. Aenon is dicult to earn, but it can go a very

long way. It can extend to connecon, word-of-mouth, or even

building a brand community. Authenc consumer aenon

makes all the dierence.

The big difference

Connecon is not a mere hit or impression. Connecon

does not require opportunies to be seen or heard, but rather,

opportunies to engage. Exposure to an ad doesn’t necessarilyequate to a connecon, just as eye contact hardly corresponds

to aenveness.

Establishing a connection with

consumer requires authenticattention.




34/45

The focal point of connecng is not through reach and

frequency. Its emphasis is on converng one prospect at a

me. Establishing consumer connecons is not a short-term

goal, but rather a long-term investment. Connecon is not

about achieving instant success. It’s about building an empire.

Power of the word

Word-of-mouth is the most reliable form of markeng.

Word-of-mouth markeng is built on trust. We only believe in

the statements of the people we are connected with and the

people we deem believable. Passing on word-of-mouth can

lter false adversing claims and break through any cluer.

It doesn’t interrupt because it is always welcome. Where all

adversing and media eorts fail, word-of-mouth does not.

Word-of-mouth spreads through the series of connecons

consumers make with one another. Marketers must focus

on those communicaon streams to earn more aenon. A

consumer who passes a good word for your brand uses his or

her own credibility to earn the recipient’s aenon and trust.

Marketers can build strong brand communies by generang

Word-of-mouth can break through

clutter and lter false claims.




35/45

and promong posive word-of-mouth using those exisng

consumer connecons.

Physical and emotional connections

The connecon between a brand and a consumer has

two levels. First is the physical connecon between a brand’s

communicaon act or adversement and the consumer’s

physical senses. This connecon happens when short-term

aenon is rewarded to the brand during a touchpoint. Second

is the emoonal connecon between a brand’s overall idea or

message and the consumer’s own context. This connecon

happens when long-term aenon is rewarded to the brand

aer successful physical connecons have been made.

The connecon within a community also has physical and

emoonal levels. The rst level pertains to the connecon

between members when communicang with one another,

while the second pertains to the connecon between members

in view of the interest that they share.

The connecon between a brand and a community can

be achieved by using physical and emoonal connecons

strategically. When a brand physically and emoonally connects

Connection has two levels:

Physical

Emotional



37/45

Smaller is faster and stronger

The true strength of a community lies in its commonality,

and not in its numbers. Therefore, a brand’s consumer market

should be divided into smaller niches to make stronger

communies. Marketers must generate word-of-mouth that’s

within their interest and explore target-specic touchpoints

and media to manage each group.

Word-of-mouth in smaller communies spreads faster

because fewer transfers are required. This gives a marketer

more control over the consistency of a message, becausepassing results in slight alteraons. Marketers can simplify

messages to avoid irregularies and to gain more eecveness

since niches will receive them, not the masses. The old rule that

there shouldn’t be inside jokes in adversing can be debunked

by this advantage.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Managing mulple niches

require coherent orchestraon. Marketers must be consciousof these guidelines when promong the messages they want

to spread while restraining those that they don’t.

Word-of-mouth circulates faster insmall commnities. It is also more

consistent and effective.




38/45

B to C to C connection

Contrary to reach and frequency, connecon earns aenon

by converng one prospect aer another. In mass markets

where interests are mixed, word-of-mouth can stop anyme if

passed onto the wrong recipient. A person who has no interest

in the message he receives will not pass it on.

The method requires you to pull and not push. A brand

earns the interest of a consumer, and that consumer passes on

word to another prospect with the same interest. The brand

earns aenon again, and so on, unl a greater part of thecommunity is covered. Every transfer that takes place serves

as a credible referral to the brand.

To implement the brand-to-consumer-to-community

connecon, a marketer must create topics that are easy and

interesng enough to pass on. The centers of inuence must

be the rst recipients to make sure that the word will be

distributed with credibility. Consumers are smart enough tospot what is fake and what is legit, so be wise enough not to

make pretenders or aempt to fabricate reality.

A stream of word-of-mouthtransfers can stop when

passed to the wrong person.




39/45

Acve parcipaon from the marketer is crucial in

keeping word-of-mouth owing. By keeping brand champions

movated, word-of-mouth will connue. Reward the acve

promoters with aenon by thanking them. Incenves may

work somemes, but be careful not to oer it as a bribe.

No one wants to lose credibility by appearing to be corrupt.

Remember that they share in the interests of the community,

not yours.

Spong trends can also help. As of this wring, a rising

trend that has been used to generate word-of-mouth is the

concept of group buying, or the use of Groupons. The trick is in

the subtle approach of giving them enough reasons to decide

to buy, instead of selling aggressively. Keep in mind that they

will buy for the benet of their group, not of your brand.

The marketer must also nd ways to keep track of the

messages that circulate. Probe for negave word-of-mouth

and address these politely as early as possible to nd out

where these are rooted. Marketers must admit mistakes orshortcomings instead of denying them. Procrasnang will

only allow small issues to grow out-of-control.

Find and motivate the brandchampions to keep the word-

of-mouth owing.




40/45

Organic and electronic transfers

The two methods of transferring word-of-mouth are

organic, or mouth-to-ear, and electronic, which is enabled by

online and mobile plaorms.

Electronic word-of-mouth is easier to pass because of the

powerful tools available to Internet and mobile users. With a

click of buon, the word can be shared. The common issue that

online word-of-mouth faces is its credibility, due an abundance

of sources. This is where ghtly-knied and paently-built

communies like members-only forum and exclusive siteshave the advantage.

On the other hand, organic method spreads word at a

slower rate, but bears more credibility than electronic word-

of-mouth. Messages must be easy to remember and share for

organic word-of-mouth to circulate easily. The organic method

requires a great deal of aenon and message recall, and this

is where cluer-free media plays its role.

Electronic word-of-mouth spreadsfaster, but organic word-of-mouth

is more credible.




41/45

The community is always right

Marketers must be sensive to community members to nd

out what works and what doesn’t. Brands must adjust to the

needs and wants of the community. ALWAYS put the interest

of the community rst. Marketers must also be aware about

the words-of-mouth that circulate outside the community.

Negave buzz that is NOT true can be preempted before it

reaches other communies. If ever they’re true, they should

be addressed directly at once.

It starts here

Posive word-of-mouth campaigns must start within your

organizaon. Live and breathe the essence of your brand. Let

it shine from all aspects. If you can’t convince your own, then

it’s probably not convincing at all. Incorporate buzzwords with

every connecon made to people outside the organizaon.The good word must start with YOU.

The marketer should adjust to thecommunity. They dictate what’sgood and what’s not.




42/45

The four-point summary:

1. Aenon is a reward to the brand that deserves it.

Be informave and entertaining.

2. Explore target-specic touchpoints and media.

Plan as if TV does not exist.

3. Avoid cluer to deliver more impact.

Be where the compeon is not.

4. Focus on connecons, not impressions.

Drive word-of-mouth in niches.

The four quesons you have to ask:

1. Is there relevance and value in what we communicate?

2. Is this a good place and me to communicate?

3. Will the prospect have distracons during the communicaon?

4. Will the prospect share what we communicated?

Before you hit close




43/45

While the ideas I’ve presented are fairly basic, the

applicaons and implicaons that come with it are quite

challenging. The success of your campaigns depends greatly

on your willingness to adjust your markeng beliefs to the

present situaon. Your integrity as a marketer reects in the

integrity of your brand. Receiving authenc aenon starts

with respecng consumers as real people, not as clichéd

characters of demographic segmentaon. You’re a smart

marketer because you’re a smart consumer, too.

Final note




44/45

Ryan Jay D. Crisostomo is a nouveau marketer who promotes

qualitave and intuive approaches. A former adversing

art director, he is currently a freelance creave consultant,

entrepreneur, and CMO of BuzzDrivers, Inc. Ryan graduated

from University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Fine Arts

Degree in Visual Communicaon.

About the author


http://buzzdriversmedia.com/

http://buzzdriversmedia.com/



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