Thinking about the future, MindShare Interaction UK
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In digital advertising in 2010, will it be more important to reach consumers in the right context rather than by targeting them by their previous behaviours?
How many times have you been to a supermarket with a shopping list and ended up with just those things in your basket? Well, if we are putting the importance of targeting consumers based on previous behaviours above that of reaching consumers in the right context, this would probably imply that we all buy pretty much what’s on the shopping list and never really stray from the pattern defined by the so called ‘previous behaviour’. However, the fact is, none of us are so set in our ways that we would never try new things or maybe even go a little crazy once in a while without much previous thought. This fact in itself has shaped the society that we currently live in to a certain extent, where we now have so much choice, too much choice in fact than we know what to do with and if we were to rely on previous behaviour for what consumers might do next, we wouldn’t have all these new inventions and choices in our lives which we’ve come to rely on and love so much – the internet is a prime example, who’d have thought that so many people would come to depend on it in such a short space of time?
We can also look at this from a brand’s point of view - why would brands continue to produce new products if they didn’t think that consumers would be open to new ideas, new suggestions or, to put it slightly cynically, manipulation by advertisers to make them believe that they need this new product? If we assume that this trend in greater choice is to continue through to 2010, consumers are going to need much more guidance in what they should consume and by reaching consumers in the right context, we could potentially shape consumers’ behaviours, dictate what they want and, if brands can continue to create new inventions and innovations get the added bonus of being seen as the cutting edge trend leading brand to have; all leading ultimately to brand loyalty – the holy grail for any brand. Why would brands want to be backward thinking when they can lead the way in future thinking and hence future consumer habits, however unpredictable this might be?
So going back to the initial supermarket question, the answer would be that this is rarely true. And unless in this digital society we do one day get overtaken by machines – which, in this day and age, can never be ruled out - and they end up making all the decisions, I’d say that targeting consumers in the right context will always work out better in the long run. So long as we have freedom of choice and we keep giving consumers this very thing, context will be more powerful than presuming consumers are as predictable as their previous behaviour.
