There’s a wave of change coming, says Ravi Rao. Smart brands need planning and agility to ride it
When you read Norm Johnston’s book Extra Sense, it makes you wonder and realise we all need to learn to surf. As global chief strategy & digital officer of Mindshare worldwide, he is incessantly unlearning, learning and re-learning to keep up with the pace of what is affecting all consumers.
To quote what he says: “Like all waves, the opportunity (and the threat) is to determine whether and how you will prepare for the next round of disruption.”
As Jon Kabat-Zinn, another surfer, once explained, “you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf”. This brings me back to the Middle East, where the next round of disruption is here.
Slowdown, tough economic conditions and seemingly tighter business conditions are a reality. But when did we ever have infinite budgets?
Johnston continues by saying: “So get your surfboard out and get ready to heighten your senses.”
What are the ‘senses’ that he is talking about? The consumer is now elusive, has a much shorter attention span and is trying everything in his means to block ads, forget ads that are not relevant to him and even simply forgo brands that he or his parents have used for a long time.
I would say it is time for a backto- basics approach, which is hard-core planning and not hiding behind efficiencies for efficiencies’ sake. Nobody is discounting the ability to negotiate, find ways of getting the lowest cost per point, which is a must. But what is the point of simply satisfying procurement and missing the real point of brands touching consumers at the opportune moment, the right moment of initiating a trigger to buy with no post-purchase dissonance?
Connection planning needs to become the norm. Connection planning is a function and role that works across an adaptive marketing framework to ensure that we are fully integrating all aspects of a client’s media activity as well as better customer experiences and business outcomes. The key benefits to the client then are a better business outcome across all media, and real agility and speed for both brand and demand opportunities and activities.
Isn’t this what we are always supposed to do? Unfortunately, the planner seems to have taken a back seat in an era of clients ordering TV GRPs by the kilo.
In this fast-changing media environment of the third digital wave, which includes wearables, connecting the dots with the consumer is key to making the most of real, fastmoving data.
To do this, we bring in a Planning for Agility (P4A) strategy. This is about helping brands to pre-plan and develop the processes, assets and guardrails necessary to act quickly during culturally and/or competitively relevant moments.
The best example in this region is what Vimto did during last Ramadan. The drink is synonymous with Ramadan, and in this region consumers love bling. So what’s better than a personalised bottle available from only one store in the GCC? Vimto opened a pop-up shop for four weeks in Bloomingdales at Dubai Mall. It partnered with Swarovski, and consumers could now see their name in shiny crystals or even give their loved ones their own bottle of Vimto. Priceless.
The right moment, the right cultural context of gifting and the right action drove positivity for the right brand. Sentiment for Vimto moved from below 50 per cent to 70 per cent within the first day of activation, resulting in high consumer engagement backed by planned content and reactive content for high talkability. @VimtoArabia was chosen as one of the top five brands of Twitter’s Ramadan Brand Index, which is based on the average volume of engagements during the first week of Ramadan.
Evian’s real use of ‘moments’ – from Eid to Halloween and even National Fries Day – in social media is another great example of P4A. Go ahead, plan for it not on a hunch, but based on hard data, and a calendar for appropriate messaging and action. In essence, P4A uses data to adapt but it is reliant on people, ideas, creativity and collaboration.
Consumer engagement alone is not sufficient, but consumer stickiness to the brand is vital for brand growth or you get submerged in a drive for the lowest cost per thousand impressions and miss the real reason for advertising or even communicating.
Tighten your belts, negotiate better, but get back to the basics. Back to real planning. I try not to repeat Norm, but he keeps coming back to me: “Get your surf board out and get ready to heighten your senses.”
There’s a huge wave on its way.
Ravi Rao is the CEO of Mindshare MENA
