LAS VEGAS – Broadcasters must better understand their viewer if they are going to help their clients truly connect with customers in our multi-platform world.
And before any broadcaster says that thanks to BBM numbers or surveys you know that already, you don’t, said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategy and innovation officer of VivaKi, the company which oversees the digital and media assets of communications and media buying mega-company, Publicis.
During a morning session on advertising on Wednesday at the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention, Tobaccowala noted that broadcasters and brands don’t yet know enough about their customers, and that must change if they are going to engage them in the future. There has been a massive investment in technology to produce mountains of data, but still “we have to do lots of work on human insight,” he said.
“We have to move to a more involvement-based model,” agreed Mike Bloxham, director of insight and research at Ball State University’s marketing and communications faculty. Broadcasters, marketers and advertisers don’t just need to know where their target is and what they like to watch, but also “what else they like to do and what they are feeling, so we can be genuinely relevant.”
Creative thinking, coupled with brand involvement directly with the consumer in ways that adds an emotional connection has shown some success, added Vivi Zigler, EVP digital entertainment and new media at NBC Universal. (Check out a bit of what she had to say here.)
She pointed to the Bravo! show Top Chef as an example. Quaker Oats loved the show and its demo and wanted in, but as more than just a buyer of spots. “Quaker told us ‘we really want to play with that show’,” said Zigler.
Working with the brand and with the showmakers, they came up with a “quick-fire” challenge, where the show’s chefs would be given set ingredients and a short amount of time to create a dish. Of course, the ingredients were Quaker Oats.
Spots then ran on TV and on line asking fans of the show for their quick-fire ideas and recipes. There were interactive information bars on screen that circulated the content and called out for more. People could text in to get coupons for discounted Quaker Oats.
“It was extension and engagement,” said Zigler. “The consumer voluntarily jumped in.” Viewers were happy because it was fun and Quaker was happy because it directly engaged their customers with their product through old and new media and directly drove sales. “The point is to do something novel and unique that the consumer actually wanted.”
She also pointed to an Anheuser Busch campaign where the brewer bought all the spots on Saturday Night Live one day last October and then gave back some of the spots to SNL itself, asking NBC to fill the time with classic SNL clips, tagged “brought to you by Bud Light”. NBC also let the brewer host the content on their own web site and run its own consumer fun around them with Bud Light SNL parties where people could win tickets to SNL.
The part that’s still up in the air though? Pricing all of this. Actors have to be paid residuals, for example, among other things. “That’s the harder stuff,” said Zigler.
But, this is the way of the future, insisted Tobaccowala, where content, marketing and advertising will often merge – and work well – as long as consumers can see they are real and relevant. “Increasingly what brands are realizing is speaking to people’s passions mean enabling them,” he said. “Marketers will be talking about how they are helping people achieve their passions, rather than their products.”
That is key, added Bloxham. “You have to make sure you stand up to scrutiny,” and make a contribution, not just try to push a product.
“People are asking not what brands say. They want to know how they act,” added Tobaccowala. “Are you thinking of a broader community, or are you just selling things?”
Greg O’Brien, editor and publisher of Cartt.ca is in Las Vegas this week covering NAB. You can comment below, e-mail us at editorial@cartt.ca or follow Greg and Cartt.ca on Twitter here.
