Consumers leading advertising

Future marketing execs of Fanshawe — listen up, because advertising is about to be turned on its head.

Traditionally, advertising had a hand in telling consumers what products they should want.

But not anymore, said futurist Dr. David H. Jacobson, director of emerging technologies at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, last week during his national tour around to Canadian Women in Communications chapters.

The former Harvard professor anticipates the tables are turning and consumers — or “selfsumers,” a term he coined — will be influencing how products are created.

Using the correct title of Marshall McLuhan's book to make his point, which is actually “The Medium is the Massage” rather than “message,” Jacobson lectured on the idea that communication has become largely about the consumer participating and gaining autonomy from typical advertising.

“The selfsumer isn't interested in being pushed,” he said. “(They say), ‘I'll make up my own mind.'”

With the increase in the amount of mobile devices, people are connected essentially all the time, influencing different subjects with their constant social networking — online comments, posts and conversations.

Selfsumers are finding both their left and right brains exercised more, said Jacobson. For example, the convenience of ordering a product online — your left brain is occupied with details such as inputting your Visa number and your right brain is enjoying the big picture of finding something you want, maybe also at a price you want.

“Internet is making things more comprehensive,” said Jacobson. “There's multimedia all the time.”

So now advertising has to keep up with their evolving consumer and appeal to all the facets of their multitasking brains, he added.

He emphasized that companies also need to “capture the intention” of their consumer, rather than just their attention. Instead of throwing products in consumers' faces and telling them this is what they want, companies need to recognize consumers are more sophisticated now. Instead of being sucked in by some television advert, they're more likely to go to their social networks to get feedback on products.

Rather than shelling out the cash for an annoying and blatant Facebook or Twitter advertisement, companies now face the challenge of coming up with an explosive enough product and promotional tool — like a Youtube video that goes viral — that will cater to people's intentions and attention, said Jacobson.

But this doesn't mean traditional methods need to be thrown out, he said.

“Do new methods replace old? I don't think so,” he said. “(New methods) enhance old methods. Even paper can come alive.”

Entertainment Weekly proved this with a video advert by Pepsi and CBS this past August, highlighting the upcoming fall show season. Using different thin-film products, readers could open the magazine and be greeted by a promotional video. Talk about merging methods.

Advertisers can also benefit by looking beyond the obvious, said Jacobson. Nearly everyone and their grandma has a Youtube channel, and watching how little Suzy can sing a Taylor Swift song can be a marketer's dream. Jacobson showed the seminar audience a Youtube video of a teen talking about gym class and how she's double-jointed — but from that one video, marketers could get ideas of how to connect with her based on the posters hanging in her room, and even her double-jointed arm.

Essentially Jacobson's message to marketers is to get into the community themselves, recognizing what consumers are posting on their friends walls or tweeting, and even noticing what their own colleagues complain about with products — Jacobson revealed the “killer app” is simply “ease of use” and not over complicating products.

It's time to stop “gate-crashing” people's Facebook walls and Myspaces in attempts to dictate terms, he said.

Because now the consumer is calling the shots.

Anyone interested in Jacobson's work can check him out at http://pwc.com, and those interested in the Canadian Women in Communications and their seminar events can visit http://www.cwc-afc.com.