The Last Word: Interactive marketing is in strong evolutionary phase

Brand managers know that if they can gain an emotional reaction from the end user, they are well and truly on the gravy train.

Interactive marketing is helping brands achieve this doctrine and storm the market place; brand owners, advertisers and communication experts who are ignoring it are doing so at their own peril.

Take the case of email marketing. Calvin Klein's famous CK-1 campaign created viral marketing history. Consumers across America received an anonymous e-mail from someone of the opposite sex seeking nothing more than 'friendship'.

Note that Calvin did this in an era when we looked forward to receiving e-mails and the excitement of communicating with an unknown person was huge. Over months, this person built a strong emotional bond with consumers and talked about personal problems, joys and wins!

Only in the end was it revealed that the campaign was CK sponsored, but by then consumers had really become involved.

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry chose to use e-mail to announce his recent choice of Senator John Edwards as his running mate.

Websites deliver a personal and private space for consumers and they seem to like it.

Insight

One key insight has been that consumers like to 'exercise control' on the media that they consume. That's why we flip pages, zap TV and click on web links. So if 'action' is natural, clever websites offer promising 'click points' which immerse the consumer further into the brand and its communication providing an instant reward.

On the flip side, one of the formats that is dying quickly is web site created to encourage customer loyalty, They are deemed as very narrow, too brand-centric and people have begun to tune off.

One thing brand managers simply cannot ignore is the mobile phone - an interactive format they can tap, so long as they go about it in the right way.

Many establishments are using interactive marketing to further strengthen ties with their customers. Gadget manufacturers, particularly Nokia and Siemens, are building interactivity with their consumers directly at the point of purchase.

Freebies

The consumer's mobile number is captured at the point of sale, and immediately thereafter a service message inviting them to register at wireless destinations such as Nokia clubs is sent out. Upon registration, consumers are constantly sent out digital freebies such as ring-tones and screen savers and they are prompted to buy mobile content such as games.

The genesis of viral marketing lies in interactive marketing. Why do you see a movie? Because typically someone has told you to watch it. Visiting websites and buying music is typically based on viral referrals. Just think of the text message jokes that you receive or forward - these epitomise the basic nature of viral marketing.

Finally, touch and feel marketing has always been in place it also resonates interactive marketing, but its success has been limited to certain models.

Interactive marketing is here to stay and is in a strong evolutionary phase. Given the fact that consumers can simply 'react' using voice and touch, the inertia to respond has almost vanished! The challenge or rather the opportunity is how to bring interactive marketing into the mainstream.

The writer is president of Communicate, a Dubai-based media and advertising organisation