Dear industry.
While young people who position themselves as experts in media always receive gleaming reviews, I'm going to take a different approach. As a tech savvy Gen-Y who's very social and according to Panorama data is 42% more likely to spend $200+ a week on entertainment, here's what I think of the way you present your brand to me.
You're trying too hard in all the wrong places.
I'm open to consumerism. As a whole, 43% of people 'like' more than 20 different brands on Facebook. Myself? My timeline says I like 147. I think this is testament that I'm fairly open to letting you be a part of my life pretty easily. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to communicate with me, brands are trying harder – and this means that as a consumer I'm exposed to over 35 different ads per waking hour. So for me to actually care, I have to actually care.
Can you please stop thinking that it's all about frolicking with my time on the internet? I'm busy. In society, advertising serves a vital role in informing and I'm happy to receive information to make up my own mind. I'm not stupid. I don't need to get stuck in the middle of your flash mob when I just want to buy a sandwich in order to learn the benefits of your new ADSL plans.
If, however, your brand is an integral part of my favourite TV show, or you can let me interact with Red Carpet awards on a global scale, or if you genuinely have something to offer me, then I'm happy to hear more. But there has to be something in it for me. Which is why, in media world, I love what I do. Being the target demographic for so many campaigns means that I'm in the fantastic position of being able to offer business solutions for national and global companies, which truly connect brands with consumers and provide a benefit for both. Too often have I seen campaigns which are so heavily saturated in my media that I can tell immediately they're out with the objective of "get as many interactions on my expanding display unit as possible", "get as many people to read this copy about the benefits our new deodorant" or "have 10,000 people tweet about my new product". Creativity is being stifled by chasing the maximum-reach-dragon. Chances are, if you’re talking to ten million people, not all of them care. Better targeting and better activations = something that’s relevant for you and me.
Media owners know their audiences intimately. We know what works with the audience and what doesn't — please use our thorough knowledge of the brands we represent. We live and breathe the territory which your product will be standing in. Our staff are people who are heavily involved in the social fabric of the community you're promoting to, and media owners know because we've run enough effective campaigns to get paid at the end of the month.
Tips on using my knowledge to your advantage:
Brief me well.
Give me enough response time.
Trust me.
You'll get a good response. Don't get me wrong — I don't want you to ask me what personally would cut through to me as a single person. I'm a firm believer in the importance of research and insights when it comes to planning a campaign.
Figuring out how to get the best return when you're planning on reaching millions of people isn't something which comes down to the opinion of you or me.
Re-targeting, consumer value, mindset and intent, is a numbers game which is best won with the analysis of data. If I get an email asking for more research to support a response, it's like music to my eyes. It means I know that my idea is in good hands and the agency doesn't want to go down the spam-the-masses-with-my-leaderboard road.
So in conclusion — to benefit myself (times three million - the tech savvy Gen-Y population) and also me as a publisher, I just want you to let me have some time and some trust. With enough of it up my sleeve, I can bring together the insights from research, ad operations, creative and execution — and if you give me more than 24 hours then I can think of something that will work for both you and me.
Tim Love
Strategic Integrations Executive
Multi Channel Network