Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins
by Mark W. Schaefer
We’re moving inexorably toward a subscription-driven, human-driven, emotion-driven, ad-free, funnel-free, big brand loyalty-free world … and the alarm bells are ringing. And we see this happening in our world today. Studies consistently show that content about a brand created by a consumer – in their authentic voice – receives between 600 percent and 700 percent more engagement than content about the same product posted by the company. People trust people.
We’re moving inexorably toward a subscription-driven, human-driven, emotion-driven, ad-free, funnel-free, big brand loyalty-free world … and the alarm bells are ringing.
And we see this happening in our world today. Studies consistently show that content about a brand created by a consumer – in their authentic voice – receives between 600 percent and 700 percent more engagement than content about the same product posted by the company. People trust people.
As we move slowly but inexorably toward an ad-free world, this is the new advertising: Stories that serve, inspire, and entertain. Meaningful events that demonstrate true caring, compassion, and community involvement. Emotional connection that shows how much we understand. This is marketing that helps us belong.
And we generally don’t like ads. We avoid them, block them, skip them, and walk out of the room to get a drink when they appear. Most corporate storytelling is still an ad because it is not native to a person’s normal content experience.
But in my own beloved profession of marketing, the primary application of technology is to find increasingly sophisticated ways to annoy people.
"We’re moving inexorably toward a subscription-driven, human-driven, emotion-driven, ad-free, funnel-free, big brand loyalty-free world … and the alarm bells are ringing."
"And we see this happening in our world today. Studies consistently show that content about a brand created by a consumer – in their authentic voice – receives between 600 percent and 700 percent more engagement than content about the same product posted by the company. People trust people."
"As we move slowly but inexorably toward an ad-free world, this is the new advertising: Stories that serve, inspire, and entertain. Meaningful events that demonstrate true caring, compassion, and community involvement. Emotional connection that shows how much we understand. This is marketing that helps us belong."
"And we generally don’t like ads. We avoid them, block them, skip them, and walk out of the room to get a drink when they appear. Most corporate storytelling is still an ad because it is not native to a person’s normal content experience."
"Myth: Customers want to have relationships with brands.Truth: 77 percent don’t want a relationship. What they really want are discounts. Myth: Customer engagement builds relationships. Truth: No, it doesn’t. Your customers already suffer from information overload. Myth: The more interactions the better. Truth: Wrong. There’s no correlation between the number of interactions with a customer and loyalty."
"Discover your purpose. Why do you do what you do? Start there. Is this grounded in tradition alone, or does the company’s reason for being need to be updated with a modern lens? Validate social tension. Once you’re clear on your values, how does this connect to your customers? What’s getting in the way of the customers living out their values? Taking aim at this societal tension and aligning it with the brand’s passion leads to a sense of purpose and direction for activation. Use your unique voice. Having a “true north” expressed as purpose can become a differentiator if the intent is right and the expression fits the brand’s mission and personality. Ultimately, the potential of purpose is to act as a filter for all actions and communications from the brand."
"But in my own beloved profession of marketing, the primary application of technology is to find increasingly sophisticated ways to annoy people."
- →And we generally don’t like ads. We avoid them, block them, skip them, and walk out of the room to get a drink when they appear. Most corporate storytelling is still an ad because it is not native to a person’s normal content experience.
- →But in my own beloved profession of marketing, the primary application of technology is to find increasingly sophisticated ways to annoy people.
- →you visit businessesGROW.com/rebellion, you can find a high-quality copy of these lessons you can print-out.
- →The McKinsey researchers who first codified this principle and discovered that two-thirds of our marketing is being driven by customer-generated activities also showed that the best use of technology is not to intercept or interrupt but rather to make the consumer’s path to our products fast and easy.51
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