WITH so many articles that have come before this piece, contributing something of value and relevance is getting trickier by the week. Advocacies? Check. Technology and how it has changed the industry? Double check.
Banking that today’s column will be read by a new set of communication execs, let’s bring things back to the basics.
In today’s landscape of new sites and digital platforms (just add water and hundreds sprout on a daily basis) and on-demand consumption of information and entertainment, regardless of whether these are about the newest trends or a lame re-hash of yesteryears’ creative innovation, today’s communicator is beset with a challenge that has become the crucial determining factor of any message: How do I effectively target the attention of my intended audience?
Remember the time when you (yes, you, 30-year-olds and above!) had to wait some 5 minutes, sometimes longer, slaving through all those mindless TVCs, only to get a dose of about 4 minutes of your favorite program/show? Compare that to today where free content (let’s not argue about what kind of content these are) offers a “Skip Ad” button after a few seconds. More and more frequently, I hear little kids gasp “Awwww . . . there’s an ad on this video!”
This has led to a generation of short-attention spanned consumers who are accustomed to on-demand programming at a touch of a button.
Solution: cut their data.
Noooo! That would be too much disappointment for a person who has to check their social media, take selfies, write their dreams about how the world will soon discover how special they are and that this world is sooo harsh that one can only go to the beach 3 times a year, twice to Hong Kong (to get some yummy goose), or that some collab bag isn’t available on their favorite e-commerce platform. And, no, am not talking about the strawberry generation alone as I have uber old friends who behave this same exact manner!
Not so stereotypical
THE interesting thing about today’s consumers is that there are so many touchpoints where brands can pitch their products. However, this has led to an equal number of sub-categories in traditional demographic sets. Let’s look at the “youth” sector which used to be simply based on age, naturally dependent on what one is selling.
Nowadays, you’ve got many variants: single youth, couple youths, same-sex couple youths, youth living with parents, youth making money from being a slasher, youth with dogs, youth with cats, youth with dogs and into limited edition sneakers, youth with dogs and into limited edition lux sneakers, you get my point.
It still follows though that these sub-categories will have different behavior and habits, places they frequent, key opinion leaders and influencers they follow and re-post, thereby further affecting more of the same subs or creating impressions upon another whole set of segments.
Location, location, location
Today’s communicators need to not only accept this evolution of the consumers they want to attract but, equally important, to understand the different platforms they exist in to craft a bespoke message that will resonate (along with a dash of tiptoeing around the risk of saying something that can lead to a cancellation or boycott).
Fortunately, especially for the connected markets (read: for this purpose, the major cities, and towns with enough users of smart phones and data), behavior and interest insights are easily available for a tidy sum. It’s a sort of digital crystal ball that allows marketers to see where specific sub-categories are leaning toward and get enough understanding and peek into the near future. In fact, instant feedback, one of the glorious benefits of online and social platforms are starting to lose credibility due to all the keyboard warriors that are maintained by influence peddlers.
In the end, in any industry where stakeholder and consumer insight are key, it will always serve the communication professional well at the onset when they know who they are talking to because then, they will know the exact sweet nothings to whisper or shout and whether this should be done on top of an apple box or a mountain top.
Oh, and am thinking of my set of columns as a series where other aspects of effective communication can be further presented. If you want more, hit me up with a DM as I’ll be in a platform where older nationalistic single dads who: enjoy a good round of brews while cultivating an interest in tech, are jaded in politics and into unique food finds that won’t break the bank, have zero interest in k-dramas and not into posting their dances on social media (save for when others do post these occasionally), can be found.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Noel Rene Nieva, president and CEO of Perceptions Inc., one of the country’s leading PR counsels, is the current national chair of IPRA Philippines.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.