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What’s in it for me? Discover how advertising is changing and what you can do to
keep up.
On your walk to work today, how many adverts did you see? Probably hundreds: in
newspapers, on billboards, mixed in with the podcast you listened to. How many of
them caught your attention? Probably none.

There is a plague of adverts, and this makes it very hard for any to catch your
eye. For advertisers and marketers this is proving a huge problem: the old way of
advertising just doesn’t work any more.

These blinks will show you how advertising is changing to cope with these new
conditions. If you work in advertising, then reading these blinks will help you
keep up with a profession in flux.

In these blinks you’ll discover

why, in terms of content, we now do in two days what previously took us 10,000
years;
why Red Bull sponsored a man who jumped from outer space; and
why market research is next to useless.
Next blink
Due to rapidly increasing demands on people’s attention, the traditional model of
advertising just doesn’t work.
Most of us view advertising as a sophisticated industry. And although that’s true
to a certain extent, it’s also worth remembering that the concept behind it is
simple: advertising is ultimately about grabbing attention. If you can’t do that,
you won’t be able to sell anything to anyone.

But in the modern world, this goal has become increasingly complicated due to the
rapid proliferation of content. There are more demands on our attention than ever
before!

As Google CEO Eric Schmidt put it, by 2010, the amount of content we created every
two days was equal to the amount humanity had produced from the dawn of
civilization up until 2003.

Basically, we’ve shifted from a media environment defined by scarcity to one

defined by abundance. And for the advertisers, it’s incredibly hard to cut through
so much competition to reach an audience.

Making things even more difficult, people’s attention spans are decreasing – which
makes the competition that much fiercer.

So, what can advertisers do? For a start, they have to change their strategy from
the AIDA model, which follows these four steps: “A” – attention is attracted; “I” –
interest is raised; “D” – desire begins; “A” – action is taken, the product is
purchased.

At every one of these steps, some people are lost, but the ones who remain will
have a greater likelihood of making a purchase. In other words, traditional
advertising is about buying attention from the greatest amount of people possible,
at the lowest possible cost. This approach used to give marketers the best chance
of funneling as many people as possible through to the end of the process.

But in the modern world, this model simply doesn’t work. Attention is just too
scarce – you’ll never attract enough people to make it worthwhile.

That’s why the following blinks outline a new approach to advertising for today’s
media landscape.

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If you want to reach consumers, you have to create an emotionally resonant brand.
The modern consumer is overwhelmed by choice. So how does anyone decide what to
buy? The truth is, most of us make purchasing decisions according to brands.

At heart, a brand is an emotional link between the customer and the company.
Ultimately, brands help people build their identities around products. In other
words, you are what you buy!

Since the connection is an emotional one, the best brands stand for something we
admire, love or cherish – often many different emotions at once.

Take Coca-Cola, which stands for the joy and fun of summer, the happiness and
family togetherness of Christmas, the excitement of a great party.

That leads us to another important aspect of brands: brands are social, giving
people a common ground for connection. Think of a shared affinity for a certain
brand as shared hobby, an interest that brings people together.

But how are brands formed? Well, it all comes down to the company behind the brand,
and how it builds on social understandings. After all, a good brand is the image of
the company behind it.

Google, for instance, has a brand that represents the future and the pursuit of
knowledge. Its core internet search business is key to its brand identity, as is
its famous motto: “Don’t be evil.”

And yet, no company can have sole ownership of its brand. Because the modern-day
brand is also formed by people talking with friends and creating a collective idea
around it.

To understand how this works, think about money: if we hadn’t all collectively
agreed that money represented something (a currency), paper bills would have no
value.

That’s how it goes for brands. Companies can try to convince us of their brand
identity, but if we don’t agree with them, the brand will be worthless.

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Instead of relying on market research, find out what your customers want by
connecting with them personally.
Has a market researcher ever stopped you in the street, asking about your
purchasing habits?

Although market research is an $11 billion industry in the United States, it’s
actually a massive waste, because asking people what affects their shopping
behavior is pointless. Most of our purchasing decisions happen on an unconscious,
emotional level.

You may find that hard to believe. After all, most of us rationalize our purchases,
telling ourselves we make decisions on the basis of cost or quality. But in
reality, our subconscious leads us to act in ways we can’t fathom.
Remember, brands have an emotional appeal. Accordingly, our connection to companies
tends to be emotional – not rational. And those emotional connections can never be
adequately explained by market research.

But if market research is moot, what can companies do to understand customers?

Well, the answer lies in customer service, which is about focusing on individual
consumers to understand their needs and problems.

And in the social media age, this is crucial. Because today, it’s easy for just one
customer with a bad experience to destroy your brand image.

Consider Dave Carroll, whose guitar was damaged on a United flight. He spent months
trying to resolve the issue through customer service, but nothing got sorted. Then
he wrote a song expressing his frustration and posted it to YouTube, where it went
viral – quickly amassing over twelve million views. It was the worst possible thing
for the United brand.

But it’s a teachable moment for us: instead of spending money trying and failing to
find out what people want, simply reach out to your customers (especially anyone
who’s angry with you) and find out firsthand. Your customers will be happy – and
you’ll also build up a great brand image.

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Good advertising offers customers something of value in exchange for their
attention.
In earlier blinks, we’ve discussed the importance of connecting with consumers to
understand their needs. Well, it’s equally important to transmit your own message
to customers. In other words, good communication is at the heart of advertising.

But what does that actually entail? Some marketers approach the question of good
communication from a rational framework. They believe that giving people a simple
choice between two (or more) items and arguing for the advantages of their own
superior product is the simplest way of effectively transmitting their message.

The problem with that approach? Emotions are what drive our decision-making. That
becomes crystal-clear when we look at research on people who’ve lost their
amygdalae (the area of the brain involved in emotional response). Without those
vital neurons, humans simply can’t make decisions any more.

Not to mention, even people with functioning amygdalae don’t like making decisions:
studies have shown that giving people more choice actually makes them unhappier!

This means that good advertising must surpass the simple product-comparison
approach. Instead, advertisers have to offer the customer something in exchange for
their attention.

And that’s a crucial point. After all, you’re delivering commercial messages your
audience never asked for – one of the many messages bombarding your customers every
day. Remember that the modern consumer feels ever-more angry and frustrated with
each new disruption.

Well, marketers can circumvent this by offering consumers something of value.

Customers don’t resent all messages – they just want messages they can use,
somehow. Accordingly, clever advertisers will find a way to add some benefit or use
to their messages, ultimately building brand loyalty.

Red Bull excels at this approach. The energy drink company invites customers to
design their own cans and exhibit their creations in Red Bull’s The Art of the Can
exhibitions. Alternately, musicians can apply for the Red Bull Music Academy. The
reason all these ventures are so successful? Because they deliver something of
value to consumers.

In today’s media landscape, authenticity and good content are crucial for
successful advertising.
Surely you’ve heard this famous motto of media theory: “the medium is the message.”
Hmmm...does the medium really count more than the content? Well, maybe in the past.
But certainly not in today’s world.

Decades ago, it didn’t matter what your advert said – all that mattered was how it
was delivered to consumers. If you had an advertising slot on one of the few TV
stations, your advertising message was likely to succeed regardless of content.

But as we mentioned, that’s no longer true. Today, the digitization of media has
fragmented audiences and advertisers alike. If you put your ad on television,
chances are people will either fast-forward through it or not even see it, because
they’ve decided to watch the program online instead.

And that’s exactly why today the medium is far less important than the content. But
then, what’s the key to good content?

To start, your content has to be authentic, because if there’s any dissonance

between what is communicated and what is experienced, it will erode trust in your
brand.

Consider Coca-Cola: if they tried to push a message about the healthiness of their
product, few would believe it. And then all the happiness and warm feelings they’ve
built around their brand for years would be undermined. That’s why advertising has
to be authentic.

And yet – despite the growing importance of authenticity – scale still matters. You
need to have an authentic message and reach a lot of people in order to be a truly
powerful brand.

Look at Red Bull: when Felix Baumgartner jumped 24,500 meters freefall for the
brand, the stunt was broadcast on more than 40 TV stations. Plus, eight million
people watched it live on YouTube. Thus, Red Bull’s famous motto – “it gives you
wings” – was literalized for a massive audience. It was a brilliant piece of
marketing.

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As long as your advertising strategy reflects the changing media landscape, the
future will be bright.
Now that we understand some of the media shifts underway, we can figure out how to
develop an advertising strategy to reflect those changes.

So instead of launching huge campaigns, go for social copying instead. Even if you
don’t know that exact term, you’ve seen this phenomenon in action: whenever people
yell “Wassssup” at each other, they’re copying a Budweiser ad – and ultimately
spreading the beer company’s message far beyond the initial audience. The big
advantage of social copying? It’s much more authentic than a standard TV
commercial.

Social media is another increasingly important aspect of contemporary advertising.

And to excel on social platforms, there are only a few simple rules: Be nice, and
take your time to build relationships.

Many companies find social media difficult, because they have to give up control
over communications. But you trade that control for attention. And as long as
you’re nice and authentic, no one will have any reason to complain.

This leads to an important point: advertising in the digital world requires a

fundamental shift. Businesses have to engage with their customers in a new way in
the democratized online space.

Just look at what’s happening with television, with the shift to social: people are
increasingly commenting on shows in real-time, to enhance the viewing experience.
That means customers are no longer passive couch potatoes – they are active and
engaged.

Accordingly, successful advertising will probably either have to be reciprocal

(solving problems for people) or imitative (creating behaviors that can be copied).
And ultimately, the ideas that actually earn attention in the now infinite media
space will be those that encourage consumer participation.

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Final summary
The key message:

In today’s media landscape, attention is a precious resource. That’s why

traditional approaches to advertising no longer work. Instead, marketers have to
adjust to new consumer expectations by prioritizing communication and authenticity.

Suggested further reading: Facebook Marketing by Greg Brooks

Facebook Marketing (2014) is a comprehensive guide of the topic, covering both the
basics like creating simple ads, and advanced power-user techniques like building
custom audiences.

Got feedback?

We’d sure love to hear what you think about our content! Just drop an email to
remember@blinkist.com with the title of this book as the subject line and share
your thoughts!

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Mark as finished

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