Treat Your Consumers As If You Were Dating Them

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

"Treat your consumer as if you were dating them" suggests Yahoo! and ad agency BBDO. The dynamic duo completed a survey of over 1,000 consumers and marketers and revealed their revelations to a crowd at Advertising Week on Monday. According to Arnold of Medical Marketing & Media, the study results were compared to a dating scenario. The three types of media a brand should use to attract a consumer (paid, owned and earned) are like the three levels of dating, or forming a relationship. Let's examine each one.

First, there is paid media. Paid media, according to the study, is the way a brand can introduce itself to the consumer and try to catch their attention. That recommendation sounds pretty obvious. In today's increasingly fragmented world, paid media is no longer going to be the main driver of sales or consumer interaction. Paid media's purpose now is to get in front of the consumer's face so they know what the brand is, and either look it up or add it to their consideration set of future reference and comparison. Fair enough. Paid media is like a first impression. The goal is to encourage the consumer to want a round two.

Now the brand has the attention of the consumer; what now? The most important step in the courting phase is seeing if you two are compatible. This is where owned media steps in and becomes the key step to making this relationship work. The study says that this step is where "storytelling must be at its best." Bring out the big guns! The brand has the opportunity to talk about its past, its current doings, and what it plans to do. The brand can tell the consumer about what it likes and doesn't like, who it hangs out with, and other interesting tidbits about itself. The consumer here has to decide if they truly like the brand. Is it funny? Can they relate to the brand? Can they see themselves bringing the brand around their friends and family? Kudos to Yahoo! and BBDO for nailing this part in the study. Brands these days have the opportunity to not only create branded content all over the place, but also the chance to interact with the consumer; it's a marketer's dream. Being able to show the brand's personality through owned media is a crucial component to anyone's advertising playbook.

How do brands know they have succeeded? The study says that earned media is the metric for brands to know if they are going to seal the deal. If consumers are readily writing and posting reviews, or reacting at will to current or real-time events regarding the brand, the brand can see the consumer "has [settled] down to go steady." The last point is obvious, but they needed a way to conclude the report. If a brand can mobilize a consumer to act based on earned media, it is safe to say that the consumer is an advocate for the brand, and the connection between the two is sound.

Based on the article's review of the study, it seems that Yahoo! and BBDO only focused on one side of the dating scenario. Of course, the brand has to be the right fit for the consumer in order to establish a relationship, but that sentiment must go both ways for a good relationship to grow. Brands can't shoot for consumers who are totally out of their league, or those who won't spend the time of day even looking at them. No, the brand must be selective with the consumer as well. Budgets will still be tighter than what the market is accustomed to, and the finance folks won't let brands try to bring just any consumer home. If your brand starts dating, make sure it picks the kind of consumer it wants to be with for a long time.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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