Terms of engagement - making a mark online

Those who worked in the space in the early days didn’t really see it as a job or see where they worked as a business. Most ‘did it’ because they loved it; they had a passion and an unshakable faith in their own abilities to develop groundbreaking work. It was often nothing more than just a creative extension of their university life and to those on the outside, it was easy to dismiss the whole area as ‘just a bunch of kids messing about with computers’.

Much has changed in both the attitude towards the designers and developers who make their careers in the interactive arena, but also in the business world as a whole and how it approaches the challenges and opportunities brought to us by web-based channels.

But have all the changes really been for the better?

As has already been said, the very thing that got many people into this space was the new possibilities that interactivity offered to engineer things that interested and excited people; creating rewarding experiences that engaged people physically and emotionally. However somehow, somewhere along the way a lot of that incredible ambition has been a bit lost in a whirl of statistics such as ‘PageRanking’, keyword density, CPC and bounce rates. The industry seems to have become subsumed in logs, metrics and stats and, as such, started to lose the latent understanding of the human beings at the end of the mouse and what makes them laugh, smile and frown; basically what makes them tick.

As the interactive space rightly becomes more central to brands marketing and service, this glare of the spotlight often results in the safe; the unambitious; the 0.5% improvement from the previous version. Suddenly, the USP of digital isn’t its creative potential to connect with people in a way nothing else could; it was its dry measurability and its statistical accountability. Are we really sure that’s the right emphasis?

Unique

Of course measurement is important, it’s one of the things clients love about digital. But it should be just one of the things. What must be remembered is what is at our disposal is a unique platform for engaging and exciting audiences, and these are the things that the industry and the clients should be measuring our successes on.

Of course, no one would advocate a return to the self-indulgent creativity which went hand-in-hand with the initial internet boom of the late 90s. Many working in the industry at that time, when clients where literally throwing £millions into initiatives based on the slimmest of insights or on a creative whim, will have experienced this first-hand. And they will also know that self-indulgent creativity really isn’t as much fun as it might sound.

All media and marketing people have egos; they want to believe that what they do is experienced and appreciated by the client and the widest possible intended audience. And ultimately there is no reward to just spending a client’s money on developments that just aren’t what the audience or customer wants.

But what’s needed is a return to thinking and not assuming; ‘people’ not ‘technology’ – conversing with real people, living real lives – to discover just how a brand can align with what they want and need.

How do we fuse a strategic approach to user engagement with a true understanding of how brands are represented online that results in truly valuable, engaging interactions between brands and their customers? It will not be a weak agency that says to a client ‘We don’t know everything that your audience wants, so we should ask them’ – but it does take a strong client to accept the need for this.

It’s important to understand that this is not simply usability. Ultimately, very few things are actually unusable – but a large amount of interactive development around is un-engaging. And it’s not engaging because it doesn’t tap into some fundamental emotional need or life benefit that truly draws on the potential of interactivity.

reactionary

Perhaps surprisingly, there really has never been a better time to invest in your brand. In the present economic climate, it would be easy to dismiss this call to creative arms as unrealistic or unaffordable. However the age old mantra of ‘marketing yourself out of a recession’ does come readily to mind and has never been more pertinent. Not simply reactionary expenditure on advertising; but rather a considered investment in the health of your brand.

Brand perception isn’t built by what you say you are in your strap line, it’s built through experiences; some in the ‘real-world’ of call centres, stores, staff and packaging, but increasing via experiences delivered through interactive channels. Nike has recently proclaimed that they intend to invest the largest amount of their marketing spend not on advertising, but on services and ‘experiences’ such as the Nike+ initiative.

While there’s only one Nike, in turn there’s only one company in every sector that can claim to be the cheapest or the biggest. If your organisation can’t compete on those terms, you have to invest in your brand.

By focusing on creating these rewarding interactive branded experiences; through marketing, in pre and post sale service or as a fundamental part of the business or product offering like Nike+, we can cement that positive long-term brand perception and create advocacy. And the best time to focus on this is when others aren’t. A company that fails to invest in its brand experiences now will not be visible or resonant when people are again looking for those brand beacons.

While a big cash injection can turn traditional advertising on and off like a tap, the esteem in which your brand is held; it’s real value – needs to be carefully and continually nurtured and loved.

Getting engaged should indicate a long-term commitment; getting your audience engaged is no different. In both cases, however, the rewards can last for years to come.