I was reading an article this morning in the NMA discussing how Brands must accept that young people expect control over online content. The article talks about how a majority of teenagers are now expecting to be able to interact and take control of their online information, and the reason most brands are still failing to really connect with the 16-24 year old demographic is because they are still just too afraid to give up control.
The most interesting quote from this article came from report author Professor David Hulme who said
A lot of marketers are really just wrapping up the old-fashioned method of control and broadcast and making it look young. What teens want is to be given something and allowed to do anything with it, which is particularly hard for corporate marketers to grasp.
This fits with much of my observation about the way brands are using social media. I have noticed it more with the Twitter push and I wonder whether one of the reasons Twitter has become so popular is because it does lend itself to broadcasting and therefore it is something that brands understand. It is frustrating to read stories like this one about Habitat’s misinformed (really?) use of Twitter to broadcast their products, or see the most popular people on Twitter who have several million followers but only bother following about 20 people back. Twitter isn’t the only site which is falling victim to the broadcasters who simply don’t want to have a conversation, but as a mainstream tool, it is one of the most visible.
The problem is, though, that avoiding a rethink of their marketing culture will eventually mean that brand is going to struggle. It is all well and good saying at the moment that the broadcast model works – brands are still broadcasting to those generations that grew up with that kind of one way communication. But what is going to happen in 10 or 20 years time when the people with the biggest buying power are going to be these teens who are disgruntled by the lack of sharing. You can already see the difficulties with the music industry. The same kind of problems are going to become more widespread across all industries.
Like it or not, the way consumers make choices has changed. Watching brands clinging on to their old models is a bit like watching people keep their horse-drawn carriages despite the fact that the majority of vehicles on the road are now cars. The old ways may have had merit in the past. They may have curiosity value. But they are no longer the most efficient way to do things. If this study is anything to go by, the broadcast model will go the way of the horse-drawn carriage, and no amount of trying to manipulate the latest technology so it fits the model is going to prevent progress. Time to embrace something new, chaps. Be brave. It will pay off in the end.
Thank you to caruba for the image
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