A Plea against the More-is-More-is-More-is-More in Marketing Communication.
If one takes the time and listens very carefully, one can hear the faint whimpering of marketing experts. Sadly huddled in their meeting rooms, they ponder on the question of what content and advertising messages must be like in order to reach the customer again. So that the consumer looks, listens, feels. So that they engage with our brand again. So that they attend events again, read blogs, share posts, and in general: how they become receptive again to sales-generating communication.
Human beings are indeed difficult to understand. When asked if they want advertising, they practically stick a "No Advertising" sticker on your face. They install ad blockers, dodge the pamphlet distributors in the pedestrian zone, and look annoyed when asked, "Do you have a loyalty card?" Never before has there been more messaging than today - and never has it been more worthless. This was written by media professional Thomas Koch a few weeks ago in Wirtschaftswoche. There used to be talk of a few hundred to a few thousand advertising messages 20 or 30 years ago. Today, it is said that we are bombarded with 5000 or more advertising messages per day. Regardless of the exact number of messages that bombard us daily, the more pressing question is: How will this continue?
It's about people's time
Fact: Every person has 24 hours a day. In these 86,400 seconds - minus essential and life-sustaining activities - brands, products, and companies vie for our time to make money. Nothing new so far. And consciously and unconsciously, people are increasingly hiding, escaping, and retreating just to have some mental peace. The advertising industry responds with a highly pronounced "more-is-more mentality." More advertising pressure, more reach, more page views, more traffic, more conversions, more funnel, more customer experience, more of something. This "more" is then further embellished with sugary relevance cream.
The Relevance Lie
Marketing experts reflexively raise their hands and preach the old tune of "Relevant Content" over and over again. The question of relevance is neither new nor innovative. It is even absurd, as no one has ever demanded "less or medium relevance." The way it is talked about suggests that you can buy "Relevant Content" in tons. Advertising communication has always had to be relevant to be effective AND efficient. End of story. And many marketers simply have no other answer than "more." The situation is simple: Communication is relevant when it reaches the right person with the right message at the right moment. The quest for the ideal form of communication is probably never-ending, as tools and people constantly evolve over time.
On the path to Communication Burnout
What is becoming evident is that communication is increasing more but becoming less effective. We are being bombarded programmatically with information until we mentally burst and reach a communication burnout. There seems to be no end in sight. Another funnel here, another whitepaper there. Even today, many startups are working on penetrating our brain cells even further. The meteoric rise of Google, Facebook, and Amazon as advertising platforms proves how much brand providers are seeking an effective and measurable access to customers. It proves that we are, of course, seeking personalized and targeted access to the desired customer group. Of course, we don't want to shoot blindly. We don't want to, but we keep doing it over and over again. There still exists a significant gap between the self-advertising promises of the Big Five, hordes of marketing experts, and reality.
When will the Content Infarction occur?
So, we are not far from a total Content Infarction. The constant bombardment by the advertising industry forces us closer to a point of absolute rejection. At what point will we start tuning out, turning away, and walking away altogether? Simply because the best defense mechanism is to shut ourselves off. Let everything just roll off. A few years ago, it was cutely called "Banner Blindness," now we are at total, conscious refusal. We are beginning to hate brands. It is to be expected that the advertising industry will respond again with "more." Of course, there are discussions at conferences on how to create that much-vaunted relevance. However, the efforts of the industry and agencies do not seem to bear fruit. Data can handle this "more" well, but not necessarily "cleverly." They say the answer lies in "Content Marketing." Here, two pigs are being chased through the village: the brave "Storytelling" and the kind "Utility." A captivating story, told to the right person, has always been an important stylistic element of successful communication, not just in advertising. And if it helps - great! However, the problem is further fueled. Because stories require more listening, looking, and concentration time to unfold their dramaturgy. Whether the umpteenth whitepaper with ten copied tips is worth giving away my data - good question. A true vicious circle. The most relevant and beautiful content-based advertising is fundamentally doomed to fail if it is lost in an overload of information.
It is difficult to give a wise piece of advice on how to prevent the total Content Infarction. With a raised finger, one would have to recommend to the entire business world to collectively slow down . Marketers and the agency scene would need to be prescribed a compulsory break to observe if it triggers any response from consumers. During this time, we could work calmly on the question of what relevant substance we will cook with in the future. The problem remains the same: when everyone wants to be relevant, suddenly no one is relevant anymore. The legion of marketing consultants must also realize that they currently have no good recipes to overcome this situation. How do we escape the vicious circle of communicative arms race? Someone recently suggested an "Attention Tax" for free content. Great idea. That should be discussed.
Good advice is quiet
I, uncharacteristically for an expert, do not have a clever recommendation for you. However, in a thought experiment, one could consider whether a consistent rejection of quick fixes could be a way. How about simply not engaging in any communication that has not been thought through for a certain time? How about taking more time again for ideation and creation? How about establishing relevance by thinking better, longer, and more before acting? It would open our eyes here and there. It would focus on the fact that we often act too boldly and too quickly. This naturally contradicts the sermons of the great motivational trainers who earn their living by convincing people to take action. After all, thinking is already an action. Just without bothering people communicatively.
Turn down the volume!
So, if we all were to dial down the volume and frequency of our commercial communication, we would hear the whimpering of the marketing experts again. And then we could collectively transition to finally create marketing communication with substance. Substantial marketing and substantial communication that deeply questions where we stand, what we want, for whom we want it, and how we communicate it to the right audience at the right moment with the right content. We would have to work more on making brands desirable again. The art behind this seems to slowly disappear due to digital tools from Facebook and Google. However, it requires people who a) want and find it important, b) have an idea about it, and c) are willing to take the strenuous path beyond simple doctrines. We have to accept that there are people who want to raise brand seedlings with a sledgehammer and shotgun. If we listen to the whimpering of the marketing advisors, we could collectively contemplate how to achieve more with less communication. It would simply be nice to think about what it would be like if there were more substance again.
Speakers
