Using Marketing White Noise in your favour
Even one of the brightest minds in the world of strategist branding pointed it out: we’re in an “Era of White Noise.” While he might not be ready to accept the idea that media today is flawed, Noah Brier, is one of the brightest minds in developing Internet cross-channel strategies that turn inept mid-Twentieth Century direct mail concepts and turn them into truly community or micro-community programs. His claim to fame is the Brand Tags project which researches brand perception based on immediate impression. What do you feel about the hundreds of brands you see on a daily basis, if only given seconds? While it’s power is of most value to the brands that emphatically wish to change their perception amongst the masses, the experiment in reality is an analysis of which brands have strong enough connections to your lives, so as not to be lost in the white noise that is the average daily life that’s flooded by 3000 brand impressions.
This isn’t a concept limited only to brand impressions from Noah Brier’s project. The idea that people in the digital age automatically add a mental filter between them and all messages they experience, is the under-lying current fueling the discussions of many of the prominent names in marketing (Seth Godin), and social theory (Malcolm Gladwell). Godin stresses taking your company to new heights to create market separation and Gladwell clearly pitches the foundation to the idea that we constantly lie to ourselves if we analyze past what exists within a ‘blink.’
Most of these strategists may be too modest to admit it, but the reality they are exposing is this: society has lost trust in communication. Be it the flood of direct marketers during the 60′s or the deluge of internet marketers over the last decade– marketing, communication, sociology theory have separated when they truly are all inter-connected at their cores. The White noise effect exists because we all forgot the fundamental fact that your brand is probably one of the least important parts of a randomly selected person’s life. Social media today is amplifying this concern further given yet another acceleration of hyper-specialized and under-educated communicators flooding all networks to be part of ‘community.’ While they explain the solution differently, Godin, Brier, and Gladwell all show a clear path to clearing the white noise effect and it is based on the idea of create value, community, and personal resonance. If you’re able to challenge the industry standard or the idea that what you’re doing is ‘good enough,’ you can start looking at ways that truly connect with your customers and cut through all the White Noise.
Sounds tough? Here are some tips on how to review your campaign practices and cut through the white noise that your competitors have flooded the market with:
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THINK CUSTOMER ROI
You demand ROI from your campaigns, so do your customers. They don’t want to see your messages unless it brings them value of some sort (not strictly financial)
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BRANDING = MARKETING + COMMUNICATION + SOCIOLOGY
Take the guess-work out of why. Analyze how your company literally effects the people it touches and take the time to understand how your customer is.
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DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT
Being truly genuine is what resonates further than anything else in the world. Beyond language and social barriers, people feel a connection with those that are trying to do good or do it because this is their calling in life. This is likely the most challenging, but if you do love it, embrace it and stop holding it back.
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UNDERSTAND THEIR COMMUNITY
If you don’t understand the community your customer lives in, then you are either selling to too many markets or lost touch with what it is that drives your sales (and potential sales increases)
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PINPOINT AND EMBRACE YOUR EVANGELISTS
Outside of all the community-building and cross-channel marketing strategies that can be applied and can cost millions, a quality product drives goodwill that spreads. Find your brand evangelists, make them feel like family, and find out how you’ve made such an impact in their lives that recommend your product without any personal gains other than the trust that the next person will appreciate your product as much or more than them.