The rise of purpose-based marketing
In a recent article on the Harvard Business Review blog, Karen Freeman, Patrick Spenner and Anna Bird argued that our traditional thinking on customer engagement is dead. A study of more than 7000 consumers indicated that "companies often have dangerously wrong ideas about how best to engage with customers." They attempt to debunk three marketing myths:
Consumers don't want to have relationships with your brand. Only 23% of those surveyed said they wanted to have a relationship with brands. Relationships, they said, are reserved for friends and family. So why do brands feel the need to act like a consumer's best friend? I love this quote from Mike Arauz: "If I tell my Facebook friends about your brand, it's not because I like your brand, but rather because I like my friends. I want to share something with them, in exchange for their attention and affection."
Frequent brand interactions over time won't build relationships with consumers. The authors argue that relationships aren't built on interactions, but rather on shared values and trust. Simply because a consumer uses a particular product doesn't mean they're looking to be bombarded with product offers. Instead, we care about the brands that stand for something that's equally important to us. I'll get back to this in a minute.
More interaction isn't always better. In marketing, increased interactions result in diminishing returns. There's no correlation between the number of interactions and the likelihood a consumer will be loyal or more likely to recommend or purchase a product.
Instead, the authors make the case that consumer attention and trust are precious resources that must be cherished instead of abused. I want to take this a step further and argue that, as we are increasingly bombarded with media in every area of our life, that disruption marketing is dying.
It's no longer good enough to tell customers about how great your product is and hope they will rush out and buy it. Especially in the digital space, consumers are increasingly looking for value and utility. Modern brands that truly get it and are succeeding in digital are those who have understood they need to stand for something meaningful and deliver on that purpose at every consumer touchpoint. They do so by creating compelling products, services and experiences that flow from that purpose.
Several years ago, Simon Sinek presented a simple idea called the Golden Circle in his TEDxPuget Sound talk "How great leaders inspire action." He argues that the traditional marketing model of What > How > Why is dead.
Here's how not to inspire: "This is our new widget. We make these widgets using cutting edge technology. They'll increase your performance by 200% and make unicorns happy. Want to buy one?"
People buy why you do it, not what you do. It's time to flip the model and change the way we interact with customers.
Here's how Simon presents Apple's value proposition:
In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, easy to use, and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?
To truly embrace digital marketing, brands will need to understand that they need to start standing for something meaningful that consumers identify with, and create branded digital experiences that people care about – beyond a one-off contest or microsite. Some brands, like Nike, have shown that they understand this in the digital space far better than others. Brands who don't get it are leaving themselves open to disruptive innovation from new or unexpected entrants.
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