The following article was originally published on AdAge.com on October 27, 2009.
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MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY FOR A CONVERSATION ECONOMY
By Marsha Lindsay, CEO, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs

What does the worldwide, technologically enabled drive for conversations mean for marketers? It means you’re no longer marketing products or services; you’re marketing conversations. It means marketing communication planning should be driven by a conversation strategy.

The right conversation strategy answers two big questions: What meaningful content will attract sufficient conversations with the right people? And, how will you jumpstart conversations and keep them alive?

When people are starved for time and already engaged in many conversations, jumpstarting new and meaningful conversations is THE big challenge of marketing today. Just building a website, writing a blog or posting videos on YouTube doesn’t mean sufficient numbers to impact ROI will find them organically, much less take the time and energy to converse with you. By definition a conversation requires others to be present and participate. Otherwise you’re talking to yourself. Perhaps therapeutic, but no way to make a living.

Even if people know there’s an opportunity to have a conversation with you – on Twitter or your blog, for instance - you can’t expect them to engage given all the other demands on their time. You’ll need a strategy that both gets them to know you exist and care so much that you exist, they’ll become intrigued about conversing with you. This requires a strategy that integrates search optimization, media, message and contributions of content from consumers.


STRATEGY FOR SCALEABLE, PLATFORMABLE MULTI-MEDIA CONVERSATIONS

The right strategy begins with the end in mind: What message can work across multiple platforms and be scaled so quickly and broadly it can drive sufficient revenues to support a business model?

Very few companies have the luxury to let conversations build slowly over time. And no business can afford to risk a high-waste and low-impact effort. More often than not, high impact campaigns with reasonable returns don’t materialize solely from online ads and social media. Traditional media must be a major component of the mix.

Stefan Olander, Nike’s Global Director of Brand Connections, noted at Lindsay, Stone & Briggs’ Brandworks University 2009 that many of Nike’s online campaigns received overwhelming response at launch. Colleagues at Nike were excited about the prospect of dropping expensive traditional media campaigns in favor of these successful digital campaigns. Olander reminded them that, despite how well known the Nike brand is, to optimize online conversations they still must jumpstart initiatives with traditional media.

That’s because traditional media can do what social media cannot: Aggressively interject messages into people’s lives in a socially acceptable way. Research conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation indicates that messages delivered by TV may, in fact, be the fastest and most cost efficient means to jumpstart productive conversations in the digital and real worlds.

Experts at the World Advertising Research Center have also studied what it takes to optimize engagement in a conversation economy. They recommend (online Feb. 2009) this media priority:

1. Mainstream media.
2. Open networks such as blogs and websites.
3. Closed networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

A multimedia mix framed to spark conversations requires a compelling message concept that can work across a multimedia platform. Its foundation has to be far more than a one-time promotion or product attribute; it must be a message strategy that connects brand meaning with search habits, and accommodates ongoing contributions that can range from casual conversations to consumer-generated content.

This is a tall order, but not impossible. That’s because the solution can be found in the motivations of the conversationalists themselves. Some psychologists say that people subconsciously come to a conversation with a desire to be changed by them. This makes sense. Conversation is mankind’s natural search engine.

What are we searching for?  Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, identified 12 universal human motivations, called archetypes. Messages that speak to one of these discrete motivations naturally engage consumers and fuel conversations for many reasons:

1. Associating with any one of these motivations gives a brand relevance and innate appeal.
2. These motivations are behind our search for change and meaning, and words related to them will find their way into consumers’ natural online search habits.
3. They are timeless and universal. Messages based on them will be relevant across cultures and age groups.

HOW TO KEEP THE CONVERSATION ONGOING

You’ll constantly be competing with other conversations for your target’s time and attention. So, spark and fuel conversations with surveys, forums, contests and invitations for contributions that pertain to the change your brand’s products and services can help people achieve. Keeping ongoing conversations fresh is where contextual ads, blogs, websites, videos and social media shine.

Content themed to your target’s daily passions, routines or rituals are great for habituating conversations. And, habituated conversations have the greatest opportunity to generate ongoing revenue and almost unbreakable customer loyalty.

For marketers who get their brand’s meaning and conversation strategy right, consumers will take over the conversation for you, making your marketing more proficient, and making you a genius in your new role of Chief Conversation Officer.

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Marsha Lindsay is CEO of advertising agency Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, whose leading edge practice of marketing strategy and communications includes Brandworks University®, the MBA-level conference that is a Mecca for the nation's leading marketers. LSB specializes in jumpstarting brands by uncovering deep-seated motivations and leveraging them in traditional and digital media. Marketers from the Fortune 100 to strong regional brands hire LSB to tackle their toughest challenges because of the agency’s cutting-edge approach and effective solutions.

LSB is a member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the CBX Worldwide Partnership.

Hey, check out LSB's new work for Monroe Clinic, a healthcare provider just south of us.  Using our archetypal approach, we discovered that Monroe Clinic was a "sage" brand and that what really set them apart was that they really understood the unique health needs of their rural population as opposed to providers in nearby metro areas.  In short, "They know the territory."

During LSB’s 2009 Brandworks University®, we asked attendees how they would jumpstart conversations despite a world of conversational clutter.  Below are some of the most broadly applicable answers that attendees shared.  Enjoy and be sure to add your own tips for jumpstarting conversations in the comments section.

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“Conversations can be jumpstarted by empowering people to help make our good products great…asking for help along the good-to-great theme,” Sargento Foods.

“Be humble. It’s not about you [the marketer], it’s about them [consumers],” Neutrogena.

“Timing is everything—deliver the message during a relevant occasion that ties to your brand experience,” Brown-Forman.

“Give a face to your brand or company that represents your values and allow them to converse in the digital space in a way people can respond and relate,” Sunny Delight Beverages Company.

“Be human. Engage existing participants of a conversation and ask permission to feature that conversation on a brand site. Value conversation and elevate it with permission,” Clif Bar & Company.

“Be simple and direct; make it about something else that reframes your brand or category in consumers’ minds to make an emotional connection. Create the love,” Kimberly-Clark.

“Be transparent: Represent your brand in the community as the Brand. Motivate the Community: Incentivize and reward “brand ambassadors” for passing along brand communications and offers. Be relevant to the community,” Rayovac.

“Focus on the key words or attributes that consumers use in association with your brand and drive your activity around them,” Culligan International.

“All relationships are built one by one. In a world of conversational clutter—slow down. Invest in a relationship to have it be real,” Chazen Museum of Art.

“Be active and persistent and join the conversation every day. Aristotle said excellence is a habit,” Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

“Develop a multi-faceted communication program utilizing both traditional media and truly interactive social media channels, where listening and acting upon your human being’s wants is KING,” Marshfield Clinic.

“Start from within—have employees or current customers start communicating and expressing your brand experience,” Wisconsin School of Business.

“Regardless of media you must be authentic and relevant and have fun!” Rayovac.

“Reach out, amplify and go to where consumers are—don’t depend on them to come to us,” Sargento.


“Focus on a niche topic or conversation and provide focused, relevant insight, tips and information,” Drs. Foster & Smith.

“Give your customers a reason to engage with you, commit to frequent communication and don’t be afraid to let go, experiment and be nimble in your acts,” Advanstar Communications.

“Have a product or offer a product that is so good and so unique and so “in-demand” that it is worth talking about,” Gilda’s Club.

“Be honest and accountable—you can be a brand advocate and still acknowledge other points of view,” Compass Point.

“It’s like an online dinner party. You share, listen and interact. Some leave happy, some complain about the chicken. Most importantly, you were there. Be a good host and a good guest,” Secura Insurance.

Many experts agree that while the economy may have bottomed out it’s going to take a while for consumers to start spending again.  Which makes the topic of LSB’s 20th annual Brandworks University (May 24 – 26, mark your calendars now!) all the more compelling and timely.

The 2010 Brandworks will focus on getting folks to open their wallets and spend more using the latest insights and techniques from behavioral economics and consumer psychology.

This is how Marhsa Lindsay sums it up, “In an effort to get their target to spend again and again, many marketers see computer-enhanced statistical analyses and predictive modeling as their ‘Holy Grail.’ Others argue that consumers are better persuaded with new insights from behavioral economics and social psychology; recent discoveries on the cognitive and emotional factors that drive decision making. Which approach produces better ROI? Why must you master both?  How are some of the smartest marketers marrying the two approaches? And how are they best applied given that technology has now made the promise of one-to-one marketing real?”  For additional detail, check out our Brandworks 2010 Web page.

We’d love your feedback.  What do you think of the topic?  Will you attend?  Any speakers you’d like to suggest on this platform?  We’re all ears.

Oh, and detailed program information including speaker line-up and registration information will be available later this fall.

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While in Boston recently I saw some Michelob transit ads that got me thinking. The campaign had headlines that went something like this:  “Think Rooftop Garden vs. Fire Escape. And, “Think Courtside vs. Nosebleed. I would characterize this as competent advertising. Not overly clever, but well executed and well strategized.

But what really got me thinking is that in this world where everyone is going just a little crazy over social networking and wringing their collective hands over what to do next, maybe it’s time to return to some basic advertising principles. And that’s what’s interesting about this campaign.

First of all, it’s for beer. One of those products that, while many have tried to create a “point-of-difference” few have succeeded. Consider the Coors “We’re colder” campaign running right now. Really? Isn’t the temperature up to me? It’s trying to invent a point-of-difference where one doesn’t’ exist. It may be relevant to people, but it’s not differentiating. Any beer that comes out of my fridge is cold. Mnemonic campaigns like this one rely on repetition to hammer the message into people’s heads and take a lot of media dollars to be successful. I’d rather be smarter.

So where is the sweet spot with a product like beer? Let’s go back to one of the very simple tenets of our business: Positioning.

The Michelob campaign does a nice job of positioning the product. And there are other beer campaigns that use this as well. The Miller campaign where the guy takes the beer away from the “high-falutin’” people is another excellent example.

The interesting thing about this advertising is it’s for a product category that, for the most part, is parity. In blind taste tests people can’t even tell their favorite beer (go ahead and argue, but try it sometime). And yet, these products have found a way to differentiate by using one of the oldest tricks in the book. Positioning.

But wait, it gets better. You can’t simply position a product with demographics, or even by narrow psychographics. You have to take a broader cut at it. What these campaigns have going for them is they all use archetypes. Michelob is positioning itself as a Ruler brand and Miller is a Regular Guy.

Archetypes are the most powerful and useful tool out there because they position and differentiate in broad context. Consumers aren’t good at nuance. Sorry to break it to you but they simply aren’t looking at your advertising that closely. Most consumers could play these beer’s positions back to you pretty succinctly. Miller, the beer for regular people. Or Michelob, the beer for achievers.

So, if you’re panicking about what to do in this new world of social network marketing, or any marketing for that matter, the first step is to figure out what archetype your brand can use most effectively. If your advertising can’t answer the question for consumers: My product is for people who _____________. You’re not there yet. The next step is to communicate that position as clearly and succinctly as possible.

BW