Why do People need to Interact?

People respond to interactive opportunities because it seems to offer some intangible quality long ‘missing in action’ from modern life. In sharp contrast to the alienation wrought by homogenised broadcast media, interactive opportunities provide a space in which the human voice would be rapidly rediscovered.

Unlike the lockstep conformity imposed by television, advertising, and corporate propaganda, interactive communication gives new legitimacy – and free rein – to play.

People long for more connection between what we do for a living and what we genuinely care about. We long for release from anonymity, to be seen as who we feel ourselves to be rather than the sum of abstract metrics and parameters.

We long to be part of a world that makes sense rather than accept the accidental alienation imposed by market forces too large to grasp; to even contemplate.

Would you like to discover more about how effective interactive communication is? Then simply contact Paul Ashby @ paulashby40@yahoo.com or (UK) 01934 620047 and please feel free to discuss any aspect of Interactive Communication.

Your customers are sick to death of being treated as mere abstract numbers

.

Advertising has dehumanised and depersonalised the whole

process of communication, there just never was a mass market! They are

also sick to death at the rampant corporate dishonesty all around them, again

more evidence of Management being totally unaware of the real world and the

communication process. Evidence of their ability to dehumanise and depersonalise

the process of marketing. It would appear that customers cannot trust

anything or anybody these days. There was a time, for example, when we trusted

our banks to look after our best interests and play fair with their charges. If

so these days are long gone. The bond of trust has been broken, not only in

banking, and people are rightly suspicious. However Interactive Marketing Communication could be

 a positive start to resolving all theproblems facing advertising and marketing.

Interaction can be defined simply as straightforward communication between two

parties. Presently we are in danger of losing the real meaning of

interaction, as we tend to focus discussions on the emerging technologies and

neglect the communication process itself. With an understanding of the real

meaning of Interactive Communication, existing media can be made interactive,

and subsequently far more cost effective. Interactive Marketing

Communication turns passive advertising into active advertising and actually

alters behaviour during the communication and learning process.And all the advertising in the world

cannot help you solvethat problem!

 

INTERACTIVE SOLVES ROI CONCERNS!

A survey conducted by the Association of National Advertisers found that digital marketers' main concern is ROI. In fact, 62 percent said that their main concern is the inability to prove ROI. The survey also listed which media platforms have increased the most among marketers, like YouTube and other forms of digital growth

However when you use Interactive Marketing Communication, properly executed, you can easily prove ROI!

Your complete and utter lack of understanding of the word "communication"



together with a lack of appreciation as to what can, and does, stifle effective communication.

All advertising is a form of learning whereby the advertiser is asking people to change their behavior after learning the benefits of the products or services on offer. However, we all tend to filter out information, which we do not want to hear. This clearly alters the effectiveness of conventional advertising in quite a dramatic way.

The final purchase decision is invariably a compromise and this leads to a certain amount of anxiety; the worry that perhaps the decision was not the best or the right one. In order to minimise this anxiety the purchaser seeks to reinforce their choice and begins to take more notice of their chosen product's marketing communications.

Due to a lack of understanding of the communication process we have created a media society during the past 40 or 50 years, where the whole process has been de-humanized.

There is now an extraordinary reduction in interaction because conventional advertising and marketing have become a one-way practice whereby information is disseminated in a passive form.

So what are you going to do about this?

ACCOUNTABILITY

　

　

Professor E.L. Roberto, PhD, Coca-Cola, foundation professor of International Marketing, reviewed the £A15 million of independent research conducted on behalf of Shopper’s Voice and provided this summary as to the technique’s cost efficiency:

"The Shopper’s Voice participating advertisements generated recall scores that are more than 50% productive than normal advertising. The effect on purchase intention is just as impressive if not much more.

All these productivity increments are attainable at a reasonably inexpensive budget. One Shopper’s Voice Client revealed that for his participating brand, his quarter television expenditure was $US5.7 million as compared to its Shopper’s Voice budget of $US0.5 million. This 1:10 ratio has been obtained in Shopper’s Voice experience in other countries."

Sources: AGB, Gallup, Martyn Research, Bourke, NOP, City Insights & more.

HERE'S HOW TO INCREASE YOUR MARKETING

R.O.I.

BY AS MUCH AS 50%

　

　

　

Interactive Marketing Communication wants to help you save up to as much as 50% of your marketing budget. We specialise in creating successful, accountable interactive advertising "Events".

As the founders and pioneers of interactive marketing communications we have developed "Products" to help you create totally accountable advertising. We have an extensive range of interactive products to meet all of your marketing communications requirements

Visit us online @ http://interactivetelevisionorinteractivetv.blogspot.com. There you will find research testimonials and much more. If you want to learn more about Interactive communicaion please check out our website.

Http://effectiveaccountablecommunication.blogspot.com

Our programmes are media neutral and highly effective, with over £5 million invested in independent research. All we want is half-an-hour of your time to demonstrate how Interactive Marketing Communication can work effectively for you.

　

　

As your products come to reflect the information provided by the genuine conversations of interactive communication,



instead of the ballyhoo and adversarial marketing tactics that poses as

marketing today, companies will be far better served, and so will their

customers.

Oddly enough with Interactive Communication, companies can have everything

they've always wanted. Greater market share, customer loyalty etc. etc. All the

empty promises that advertising has been promising their clients but failed to

deliver!

To day, big business, with their handmaidens, advertising & marketing

have created mass media.

And the biggest mass medium is broadcast. And that is command and control

management, complementing big business thoroughly. Both are all about

imposing control top-down and both are driven by ratings, research and cost

per thousand.

Sad for them people are turning away from 'broadcast' in their millions

because of a number of reasons, they have acquired other interests and concerns

which broadcast cannot provide. Plus the fact that people are heartily sick of

the sterile pronouncements of corporations and broadcast media. And especially

of advertisements!

I close by making the observertation that we live in surreal times when we

are asked "online Marketing Vs Traditional Marketing, which is more

effective"?

Well neither of them are even proven as effective. Eric Clemons, Professir of

Operations & Information Management @ The Wharton School of the

University of Pennsylvania, argues that the Internet shatters all forms of

advertising.

The problem is not the medium, the problem is the message and the fact that it

is not trusted, not wanted and not needed.

There are three problems with advertising in any form, whether broadcast or

online. 1) Consumers do not trust advertising,2) Consumers do not want to

view advertising and most important 3) Consumers do not need advertising!

　

The advertising industry is facing unprecedented challenges to its dominance in the marketing communications sector:




new media, data-driven approaches and consumer-generated networks all vie for the attention and budgets of the brand marketer.

In America the AANA claims "Marketing accountability is still often an activity trapped within the silo of the marketing function," judges a report published Wednesday by America's Association of National Advertisers.

Prepared by the ANA's Marketing Accountability Task Force - comprising twenty leading companies from diverse industries - the report notes that while marketing accountability requires a precise process involving multi-functional teams, only small proportions of marketers use such a method.

The task force's findings underscore last summer's Marketing Accountability Survey [WARC News:], in which 60% of respondents reported no cross-functional involvement whatever within their company during the development and management of their marketing accountability programs.

Says Bob Liodice, ANA president/C.E.O.: "These findings clearly demonstrate that there is still much work to be done to accomplish total accountability and we are pleased to provide concrete steps to help our members achieve that.

The task force report lists Ten Commandments for "total accountability" . . .

Create a multi-functional internal accountability team.


Agree on the expectations that the management team has for marketing.


Choose metrics that align with expectations.


Select predominantly leading indicator metrics capable of driving a causal model.


Create a robust voice of the customer so you understand the target customer.


Demand an explicit plan to build brand equity.


Develop measurable objectives for 90% of marketing expenditures.


Use a rigorous process to build integrated marketing plans.


Analyse 90% of marketing expenditures using a who, what, how framework.


Create an accountability budget sufficient to measure 90% of marketing expenditures.

"Creating multi-functional accountability teams within an organisation will enable marketing accountability to reach the level that today's marketing landscape necessitates," concludes Liodice.

ANA members can request the full 2006 ANA Marketing Accountability Task Force In Admap's report on ad avoidance, Roderick White examines the research evidence both in the UK and US that people are increasingly trying to avoid advertisements. He looks at TV, Direct mail, Press and Internet advertising, before moving on to consider what can be done to overcome the problem.

More accountability: Being the results of one exposure to an interactive programme vs traditional (frequency and reach) advertising.

Client: Unilever

Brand: Birds Eye Fish Fingers

Research: Nielsen & City Insights.

Nielsen recorded an actual uplift in sales for this brand of 3.2%. City Insights registered a +9% uplift in Definitely/Probably Will Buy. City Insights again established that the technique lifts awareness of advertising, +11%.

　

Client: Unilever.

Brand: Persil.

Research: Nielsen & City Insights.

Neilsen recorded an actual uplift in sales for this brand of 4.4%. City Insights registered a +2% increase in last week purchase & a +4% increase in Definitely/Probably Buy. There was a 4% increase in Advertising Awareness.

　

Client: Unilever.

Brand: P G Tips.

Research: Nielsen & City Insights.

Neilsen recorded an actual uplift in sales of 3.1% for this brand and City Insights recorded a +5% uplift in ‘Last Week’ purchase and a +7% increase in Definitely/Probably Will buy. Additionally City Insights recorded an uplift of 8% increase in advertising awareness.

　

Client: Unilever.

Brand: Birds Eye Frozen Peas.

Research: Nielsen & City Insights.

Nielsen recorded an actual increase in purchase of 2.6%. Whilst City Insights recorded a +2% increase in purchase ‘Last Week’ and a 5% uplift in sales Definitely/Probably Will buy. City Insights again recorded an uplift in advertising awareness of 5%.

　

Client: Unilever.

Brand: Sunsilk Shampoo.

Research: BLM division NOP.

"Substantial (even dramatic) gains were recorded in Advertising Awareness, averaging +45%. The comparison between "Seeing-The-Event" and those "Not-Seeing-The-Event" shows a healthy performance improvement. An increase in Spontaneous-Awareness of 53% was recorded for Sunsilk Shampoo and for Purchase and increase of 35% was noted."

　

Client: Gillette.

Brand: Silkience Shampoo.

Research: Martyn Research.

"Unprompted-Awareness of Silkience Shampoo, Brand-First-Mentioned increased 300%, whilst Total-Mentions increased 30% among people exposed to the interactive event. Similar increases were recorded for Purchase +40% and Advertising-Awareness 233% were recorded."

　

Client: Colgate Palmolive.

Brand: Dry Solid Anti-Perspirant.

Research: AGB.

"Seeing the product within the interactive Event has increased the level of awareness at a rate of 34.6%. An increase of 23.1% was recorded for Past-Four-Week-Purchase. Additionally participation in Future-Purchase-Intent (DWB) was increased by 100%. Recognition of the main product claim was increased by 50.5%.

　

　

　

Advertising will fail:



The internet is the most liberating of all mass media developed to date. It is participatory, like swapping stories around a campfire or attending a renaissance fair. It is not meant solely to push content, in one direction, to a captive audience, the way movies or traditional network television did. It provides the greatest array of entertainment and information, on any subject, with any degree of formality, on demand. And it is the best and the most trusted source of commercial product information on cost, selection, availability, and suitability, using community content, professional reviews and peer reviews.

　

The No 1 task for Business: Reinvent Marketing & Advertising.

Hopefully lessons will been learnt from the crisis, do not try to rebuild business on the principle that Marketing & Advertising are always right!

The words "60% of all advertising, globally is wasted" were splashed recently across the marketing papers. This kind of unanimity in the trade press is not coincidental — "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" the advertising community do-nothing mentality was taken to its logical extreme by the preparation of $3 million ads for the Super Bowl by advertising agencies apparantly totally unaware that they are all well past their sell by date.

To have any hope of repairing the damage left behind by the highly dishonest and incompetent banks, big business must first convince the majority of the population that they are really capable of fixing the problems.. Not only are we trapped in the worst recession in living memory. but behind all this lurks a horror even more shocking; the entire marketing/advertising-economic model of free enterprise, rugged individualism, creative advertising and marketing is broken beyond all hope of repair.
Marketing/Advertising on which the Western world built its seeming success seems to have completly broken down. How else can one describe a situation in which all of the country's main financial institutions and many of its biggest industrial companies are effectively bankrupt and on government life-support?

Well TAG is the way forward because it makes your customer the very centre of your business

There is, and has been for some years,

a very simple solution to the ills that beset the marketing and advertising industries. In the past the advertising agencies have shunned the solution because it does not rely upon creativity, reach and frequency, the current model so beloved by the advertising industry.

It is interactive marketing communication, in one fell swoop Clients could solve all their problems and assist existing media to solve theirs at the same time.

Interactive advertising is richer than all other forms of marketing communication, and it is becoming increasingly clear that it is only a matter of time before Clients embrace the business saving life force of interaction!

Choose your own commercials anyone? Interactive TV will immediately halt the interruption model on which television is based, that is interactive marketing properly executed will make advertising on terrestrial TV become richer because of the very nature of Interactive Marketing Communication.
Existing terrestrial television need no new technology imposed upon it to create immediately highly successful, totally accountable advertising "Events"

More accountability: Being the results of one exposure to an interactive programme vs traditional (frequency and reach) advertising.

Client: Chesebrough-Pond’s.


Brand: Intensive Care Hand & Nail Lotion.

Research: Burke Market Research.

"Readers of the Event were significantly more likely than non-readers to recall all four copy points, additionally readers were significantly more likely than non-readers to have tried the lotion, to have repeated buying it and to have purchased the brand recently.

　

Client: Rexona (Unilever).


Brand: Vaseline Intensive Care.

Research: AGB.

"Prompted-Brand-Product-Awareness increased at the rate of 31.5% among people seeing the Event, similarly and increase in Past-Four-Week-Purchase +90% and in increase of 81.8% Definitely-Will-Buy was recorded."

　

Client: Carter Wallace.


Brand: Dencorub & Dencorub Ice (Muscle Pain Relief).

Research: AGB.

"Quite dramatic increases in Prompted-Brand-Awareness and in the Past-Four-Week-Purchase and Next-Four-Week-Purchase-Intention (DWB) occurred amongst main grocery buyers. These range from 55.6% to 120%."

　

Client: Carter Wallace.


Brand: Nair Hair Remover.

Research: AGB.

　

"Research again indicates that those who saw the Event had greater levels of Brand-Advertising-Awareness +161.1%; Past-Purchase-Behaviour +100% and also Future-Purchase-Behaviour +60% over people not exposed."

　

Client: Carter Wallace.


Brand: Arrid Deodorant.

Research: AGB.

"Arrid’s participation within this Interactive Event again demonstrates the effectiveness of the Technique. All key measurements show positive improvements for those exposed versus people not exposed. Brand-Advertising-Awareness +200%; Past-Four-Week-Purchase +100% and Future-Purchase-Intent +66.6%.

　

Client: Carter Wallace.


Brand: Sun-In Hair Colour.

Research: AGB.

"Sun-In Hair Color benefits from exposure within the Interactive Event. Brand-Advertising-Awareness was increased by 366.6%; Purchase-in-Past-Four-Weeks +100%; and Future-Purchase-Intent +100%."

　

Client: Pork Promotion Council.


Brand: New Fashioned Pork.

Research: AGB.

"Grocery Buyers exposed to the Interactive Event showed higher Awareness +12.3%; higher Advertising Awareness +45.16%. They also had higher Past-Purchase patterns, 80% and higher figures for Purchase-Intent +36.3%.



Client: Sara Lee.


Brand: Hearty Fruit Muffins. (Frozen Bakery Goods).

Research: AGB.

"Grocery buyers who remembered seeing the Interactive Event showed a higher than average awareness of the product +30.9%, a high awareness of advertising at +83.3% and 100% increase in Future-Purchase-Intent.

　

Client: Unilever.


Brand: Streets Log Ice Cream Deserts.

Research: Martyn Research.

"Unprompted Brand-Awareness increased +8% amongst main grocery buyers who saw the Interactive Event and Purchase increased +80%; Advertising-Awareness increased 100% over people who had not see the Event."

　


　

More from the "Marketers rate below politicians..." research study.

The study's findings suggest that the ads that are more traditional -- and less able to track for

engagement using digital tools -- are actually the ones consumers say they prefer. The study found

that people prefer to view advertising in their favorite print magazine (45%) or while

watching their favorite TV show (23%). Only 2% stated that they prefer to view

ads via social media and 0% said they like ads in an app.

Companies investing in branded social-media sites should also pay attention

to this finding: Just 2% of respondents believe information about a brand from a

company's social-media site is credible
.

"Make no mistake, creativity will always be our calling card," Ms. Lewnes

said. "But digital has given marketers an opportunity to rewrite their roles.

Marketers today have access to technology that gives them critical data and

insights about their customers ... insights we can turn into more relevant,

high-impact marketing. People want messages and marketing that's more customized

to their needs. And businesses want to be able to measure the impact of their

marketing dollars. Digital gives you both. As an industry, we need to accelerate

the move to digital. Only then will we be able to get the respect and

credibility we deserve."

Considering the participants of this study aren't merely a cross-section of

average consumers but also include 250 top marketing professionals, it seems

imperative that the industry needs to start from within. How can you expect

folks to respect you if you don't respect yourself?

According to the study, the majority of consumers --53%-- stated that most

marketing is "a bunch of B.S." That's compelling evidence of a big reputational

challenge the industry must tackle, and fast.

Free... As In Doughnuts

Free... As In Doughnuts

I know a guy who spends hours looking for illegal MP3s to avoid paying $.99

on iTunes. Some people are likely to prefer watching ads to paying for content

despite all the drawbacks. The point is not that advertising is

bad for everyone in every situation. But it is unfortunate that advertising is

so often seen as the best or only way to make money from digital wares.

It's worth remembering that ad-financed television came to the fore at a time

when no alternative would have been feasible. The technical challenges of the

day involved getting a decent picture on a 17" CRT without standing next to the set holding the antenna all evening. Subscription or pay-per-view models were not in the cards. Now we have the technology to meter and charge for content in many new ways, but we've gotten into the habit of expecting TV shows to be free.

One of the quirks of human psychology is that, once we get used to free doughnuts, we are enraged

by the idea that we might have to pay for them.

If we succumb willingly to disfigured television shows, psychological

manipulation and higher prices on SUVs and shampoo so that we can avoid paying a

few dollars for entertainment and internet services, we have no one to blame but

ourselves. When the most frightening hoax imaginable is that Facebook

will start charging users, we can hardly blame them for slathering more and

more lucrative ads onto their website. It would be fantastic if creative types

were to look for less intrusive ways of financing their work. But that is

unlikely to happen until consumers start to realize that free is sometimes the

most expensive price of all. And best told by interactive communication!

Accountability,,,

Accountability has always been an important part of the advertising process. So why do the words "accountability" and "ROI" seem to occupy so much more of advertisers’ thoughts and time today? The answer is not a simple one, and numerous factors have influenced corporate attitudes, but essentially, "why" can be boiled down to:

Corporate expectations have changed. and only Interactive communication can provide true accountability



 




 
 



 
 
 





 
 

The need for Interactive Marketing Communication

　

　
Put simply, because there is a human desire for interaction. We have created a media society during the past 40 or 50 years where there is an extraordinary reduction in interaction because of the one-way and more passive form of information retrieval that exists.

People desire to be taken account of, to affect change, learn and personalise their relationships with their environment. There are a phenomenal number of reasons, which cause people to interact, which go far beyond just giving them things.

When people participate in interactive marketing communication they are told that their efforts and feedback are of positive help to the advertisers. Moreover, by participating, they then learn and understand the message from the advertiser, personalise their relationship with the advertiser and their products (or services).

Consumers tend to filter out information they do not want to hear and this alters the effectiveness of advertising in quite a dramatic way. The purchaser’s decision is invariably a compromise and this leads to a certain amount of anxiety. The worry that perhaps the purchase decision was not the best or right one. In order to minimise this anxiety the purchaser seeks to reinforce his choice and begins to take more notice of his chosen product’s advertising. And, at the same time, the purchaser deliberately suppresses data, which might challenge his decision by ignoring the advertising of competitive brands.

People are often loyal to a brand simply because they do not want to readdress a decision. The opportunity to screen out undesired data always exists when media advertisements have to stand on their own and fight for attention.

Interactive Communication takes the consumer through the barrier of not wanting to address change; and this is the ultimate market the advertiser is after – the people who use his competitors’ products.

Now the consumer can say ‘Yes, I will change my behaviour and I have a very good reason or series of reasons why", and have a well-informed opinion or image in mind.

If someone goes into a product purchase decision with a very specific image of the product and its reason to exist and why they have decided those reasons are worth its purchase, the test in reality, the use of the product, will tend to confirm that premise, and therefore conversion will be enormously enhanced.

Interactive Marketing Communication turns passive advertising into active advertising and actually alters behaviour during the communication and learning process.

Interactive Marketing Communication increases sale.

And there’s more!

It enhances relationships and dramatically improves consumer knowledge, understanding and loyalty.
1. Strong Company or Brand Values.

To be effective communication has to be single minded in choosing a specific proposition which by definition cannot appeal to all. Yet every product, service or retail outlet can offer several attractive benefits and in some cases these can be numerous. Interactive Communication presents consumers with a ‘menu’ of powerful benefits, both rational and emotional, and asks them to choose the one which they find most relevant and appealing to them.

This allows them: -

a) Personalise their relationship with the communicator.

b. To absorb and retain the majority – or even all – of those extra benefits while making their choice.

The power of collective intelligence

Yahoo music ratings, Google PageRank, MySpace friends, Netflex user reviews – these are all manifestations of the wisdom of the crowd. Millions of regular people are the new tastemakers. Some of them act as individuals, others are parts of groups organised around shared interests, and still others are simply herds of consumers automatically tracked by software watching their every behaviour. For the first time in history, we’re able to measure the consumption patterns, inclinations and tastes of an entire market of consumers in real time and just as quickly adjust to the market to reflect them. These new tastemakers aren’t a super-elite of people cooler than us, they are us

We are leaving the Information Age and entering the Recommendation Age. Today information is ridiculously easy to get you practically trip over it on the street. Information gathering is no longer the issue – making smart decisions based on the information is now the trick .

YOU CALL THIS WORKING?

Why Traditional Interruption-Based Advertising Doesn't Work Anymore!

Traditional advertising doesn't work well anymore for a

very simple reason - there's too much of it. There are too many companies

interrupting consumers to try and sell them something. There's so much ad

clutter and noise today that the latest studies show the majority of consumers

ignore companies that bother them with too much advertising. In addition, techonolgy provides

consumers with every manner of ad blockers, including TiVo, VCRs and DVD recorders, to

cable and satellite TV, to MP3 players and downloadable music, and now satellite

radio. Consumers are paying billions to AVOID ADVERTISING, which is why they

like it even less if you actually manage to break through and interrupt what

they are doing.

But we can change all that and, at the same time save you heaps on your highly expensive marketing budget.
Contact: paulashby40@yahoo.com

Social media tends to reject commercialization

Social media tends to reject commercialization and has altered the way marketing
thinks about promotion. The new focus is conversations and engagements, which makes
“evangelism” a more appropriate term. Consider, for lack of a better term, the unprecedented intimacy involved when a customer or prospect becomes a fan of an organization on Shopper's Voice. That fan is inviting the organization to participate in their daily lives by way of Shopper's Voice News Feed, and won’t tolerate a steady stream of marketing hype. Shopper's Voice background in working with objective, often cynical news and editorial contacts has left Shopper's Voice well positioned to take the leading role as evangelists.
For more information on Shopper's Voice contact: paulashby40@yahoo.com or http://shoppers-voice.co.uk