Marketers are all about getting people to think things, in order for them to do things. They do this because that’s the way analog media worked:
1. You showed people an ad
2. You hoped that they then thought differently about the product
3. You hoped they then might go out and buy it. But it is weak psychology.
If you really want people to think differently, it is usually much more effective to get them to do something, and watch their minds follow in line.
In the 1930s, Indian nationalists had been making speeches against British rule for decades – without any impact. So instead of using words, Gandhi decided to get Indians to do something instead. He encouraged them to go to the seashore and make salt. Salt was essential to human life in a hot country like India. But because the British government controlled the making of salt, anyone else who made salt was breaking the law. So when Gandhi’s followers arrived at the seashore, British soldiers beat them. They did so in front of the world media. Public opinion changed. And a few years later, the British left India. It works today too, Successful consumer campaigns today follow the same thinking:
• If you want car drivers to support your cause, you ask them to honk for peace.
• If you want people to support breast cancer awareness, you ask them to wear a pink bow.
• If you want a captive released, you tie a yellow ribbon around a tree.
Digital media are all interactive. All let you ask people to respond and commit. So as the lead medium changes from TV to digital, marketers need to stop worrying about how to persuade people to think things, and ask them to do things instead.
So:
1. When young people on MySpace or FaceBook want to start a trend, they invite their friends to join a network, like ‘Jessica Alba or Jessica Biel?’ or ‘People who have to spell their names to other people’. Brand marketers need to follow the same logic – allowing people to join their groups (and to do so with one click, rather than having to enter a pageful of information.)
2. In the analog era, persuading customers to recruit their friends and family for a brand was difficult, because it involved filling in and processing coupons. In the digital era though, tasking brand ambassadors is easy. Ask them to do things – and then reward them for doing so.
3. Why ask people to go out and try a digital product, when digital media can give them a sample?
Getting people to experience the first few levels of a computer game is much more powerful marketing than asking people to think about a benefit. In the TV era, getting trial happened at the end of the marketing process. Today, it should often be the start.
