I’ve seen good writings on the concept of measuring engagement, but I what I’m starting to see is a really weird twist from online media marketers. It’s the notion that brands should use online techniques to engage potential consumers in their advertising. What? Yes, I’ve now listened to this type of pitch from about five online marketing firms who were pitching my various clients. During the last one, I actually had to leave the conference room to laugh.
Listening to very serious pitches from media people telling my clients that they need to “engage” consumers gives me the giggles. I always want to ask, “you mean ‘engaged’ as opposed to being bored out of their minds by the ad campaign, right?” How far we’ve come. Isn’t this the part where Rod Serling steps out from behind the whiteboard and says, “you’re in another dimension… you’ve entered ‘The Engagement Zone’”!
Online Marketing Biz Dev Guy: So, here’s the concept … we’ll create an ad and the copy will be so engaging that the consumers will respond to it.
Client: Hmmm. Isn’t that just…
Online Marketing Biz Dev Guy: No! It’s a totally new concept. We call it “engaged marketing.”
I used to laugh when the marketing brief titled “September Sales Event” made it into the radio and television copy. You could just see the creatives throwing up their hands and saying to each other, “What the hell is a ’sales event?’ Don’t the marketing guys know the difference between talking to consumers and talking to themselves?”
In case you’re wondering why this issue is even worthy of a column or worse, if you are wondering why I’m making fun of the “consumer engagement” slide in your deck–here’s a heads-up. It is the job of all advertising to be as engaging and compelling as humanly possible. In fact, it is the job of all communication to get and keep your attention as long as required. The idea that we need to point this out, name it or even say it out loud is a serious indication of just how many people working in the marketing and media industry should “engage” in another line of work. 