Right Side Up

The other day I had the privilege of listening to a lecture by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Roberts linked a series of propositions to create an argument that goes like this.

1) “Brands were invented for one reason only: to charge a premium; a higher price, a higher margin.”

2) Creating an emotional connection with the consumer is “bigger and better than more quality, more value. These table stakes aren’t enough”

3) 85% of human decisions are made emotionally, not rationally.

4) “Great communication works inherently at an emotional level”

5) “The only point of advertising is to drive people to do something”.

6) So the role of marketer is to do great communication that works at an emotional level, to create a ‘lovemark’ which “inspires loyalty beyond reason. That is where the money is. Beyond price. Beyond benefit. Beyond attribute. Beyond logo.”

In other words, the role of the marketer is to ‘drive’ people to ‘love’ you so much that they no longer use their reason and hand over loads more cash to you – more than if they still had the use of their reason. And you do this by emotional advertising.

Never mind the fact that each one of these six propositions is flawed in its own right. Look at the instrumental, self-seeking motives. Look at the attitudes it displays towards people – ‘the consumer’.

Kevin Roberts’ arguments sum up everything that is wrong with marketing today.

Alan Mitchell

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AlanMitchell Advertising, Branding, Marketing

Right now, in the worlds of media and marketing, there’s a growing kerfuffle about the shift from ‘push’ to ‘pull’ media. Recently Rupert Murdoch, a known Internet sceptic, joined by the bandwagon, saying: “Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry. A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it.” When Rupert Murdoch says things like this, everyone else in the industry stands up and takes note.

The big question for big companies is this: if consumers have an increasing ability to access the editorial content they want ‘when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it’, where does advertising fit in? If consumers have the power to choose what content to pay attention to, how much attention will they actually give to marketing messages? (Answer, as we all know: not very much).

But in a funny sort of way, that isn’t really the point. Marketers have been talking about rising ‘consumer empowerment’ for decades now. And yes, it’s true. As new facilities such as ‘search’ and ‘on-demand content’ become available, individuals have began changing their behaviours and expectations en masse. For example, two thirds of UK consumers under the age of 44 now expect to “look for reviews or impartial information on the Internet” before making a major purchase.

But compared to what’s on the way this is trifling. The really important development is the next one: when these general technology enablers (such as search and on-demand content) coalesce into highly specific new services designed to help individuals tackle specific tasks; when a generalised amorphous trend of ‘consumer empowerment’ crystallises into a new type of business that makes its money by empowering consumers; when ‘consumer empowerment’ shifts from being something individuals do in isolation and becomes a big new business opportunity instead.

When the whole theme of consumer empowerment jumps to a big new, ‘corporate’ level, in other words.

Last week the Buyer Centric Commerce Forum gave a hint of the potential scale of this shift in its new report on just one emerging ‘consumer empowering’ service – the Added Value Buying Service. Within ten to fifteen years, the BCCF predicts that around 40% (around £200 billion worth) of UK households’ top twenty purchases – from food and drink through mortgages to holidays and energy – will be conducted through or influenced by AVBS (www.rightsideup.net).

The Added Value Buying Service is just one form of ‘consumer empowering’ business. There are many more waiting in the wings. So the critical thing is this. The leap from disaggregated bits of individual behaviour – amorphous ‘trends’ – to organised businesses with a vested interest in offering ‘empowering’ services, marks a decisive turning point in business and commercial history.

Alan Mitchell

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AlanMitchell Buyer centric services