Getting through to the ‘connected consumer’

Dubai

Every brand that is out there in the public domain has a digital strategy in place ... or near enough to getting there. But it still may not be enough to keep pace with the changes sweeping through the digital ad landscape and how consumers react to them.

“Regional advertisers are slow in responding to today’s ‘connected consumer’ who are more mobile than ever before, have more access to instant information and more connected to devices, screens and to each other,” said Racha Makarem, Managing Director of Research and Insight at VivaKi MENA, the marketing services firm. “This pace has created the ‘next-generation’ expectations and that is where the challenge is.”

That, in short, is the nub of the problem. Brand marketers and their partner agencies are being forced to make digital strategies — even rewriting them as they are made — to come up with messages that resonate with today’s audiences. And these messages have such a short ‘shelf life’ in the digital space — compared to what would be the case on print and TV — as consumer preferences can change by the time the ‘enter’ button is pressed on a smartphone’s virtual keyboard.

“The challenge today is that we have a connected consumer and often ‘disconnected’ brands,” said Makarem. “By disconnected I am not referring to brands using digital or social as that does not make them ‘connected’ either. I am referring to brands being more responsive, more personal in their approach, more relevant.

“A brand needs to start thinking and acting differently to meet the expectations of today’s “digital natives’ and also that of ‘digital immigrants’ as more people adapt to new trends and new media.”

In Makarem’s greater scheme of things, brands and advertisers should not believe that targeted ads are the be-all in scripting their campaigns. “Imagine what more we can learn if we become more curious to understand the needs, desires, interests and culture people are creating, curating or are just a part off.

“This is where the real magic happens — communication ideas need to change and shift at the speed of cultural changes to remain relevant, fresh and also manage to excite people.”

And what sets the great brands apart? Just by the fact that they can “reflect and create culture”. “The challenge is for brands to move at the speed of people,” said Makarem. “If they do, they not only stay relevant but will also capture profitable growth.”