Tom Asacker

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How do you define value?

I've received a smattering of emails over the past week in response to last Tuesday's post, the essence of which lies in the title of this one.  I wrote that organizations should cut all "valueless" activities, so I guess that I should at least define value, right?  Okay, here goes: Mutually beneficial marketplace "value" is any activity that brings about all four of the following results with one's intended audience:

1. Gained attention
   
   This appears to be a no-brainer.  If we're going to invest in something, then we should at the very least expect it to gain people's attention.  Right?  Well, I can assure you that it is not as simple as it may seem.  People are rapidly adopting technologies, routines and mindsets that remove commercial messages from their visual and cognitive views.  That's why I insist in my new book that the future of marcom is not in "messaging."  There are much more cost-effective and powerful ways to convey ideas and signal value.
   
   Studies reveal that as much as half of what we do every day is habitual; done on autopilot at the same time or in the same place without really thinking about it.  For people to "sense" an activity or offering, it must engage their conscious attention (puh-lease . . . don't even mention subliminal advertising).  Your offering, therefore, should be contextually unexpected, or else they'll simply tune it out.
   
   Now, despite what you've probably read in popular marketing books, the stimulus does not need to be simple.  In fact, it should be interesting enough to draw people in for a closer look.  You're trying to charm and inspire people, not impress and persuade them.  But (and this is where many advertisements break down), it does need to provide a cue to the inherent value of the offering, as well as allow people to tease that value out for themselves.  That's right.  You do not want it to be overt and obvious, for as Joseph Joubert wrote, "We may convince others by our arguments, but we can only persuade them by their own."
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2. Gained interest
   
   Great!  You've gained their attention.  Now, did the activity stimulate their desire for the brand, and for what choosing the brand will ultimately tell them about themselves?  If not, go back to the drawing board.  Gaining attention for the sole purpose of gaining attention is a lazy waste of money.  It's the game played by impulse purchase brands and those in low-involvement categories.  Now, if your brand is as important to people as a pack of chewing gum, then go for it!  Otherwise, create something valuable and memorable.  Use that gained attention to signal value and integrity of purpose, and compel people to share it with others.
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3. Gained trust
   
   What is trust (besides the holy grail of business success)?  It's the confident expectation of something.  It's the reliance on the intention, integrity and ability of a brand to deliver that something.  So what engenders trust in a low-trust world?  Talk?  Jingles?  Promises?  Conversations?  Absolutely not.  Today you create trust through actions and through others.  Your actions need to be tangible, vivid and human to have any chance of creating believability.  You create trust by helping people see others using your brand.  You create trust by demonstrating your unique value, not talking about it.  And you create trust by being real, human, passionate, and empathetic in your approach to the world.
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4. Gain support
   
   Okay, you've got their attention, interest, and trust, which most likely means that you have "sales" (if, of course, they have the means to transact).  Terrific.  But do you have their ongoing support?  Will they stick with you?  Will they look forward to your communication?  Will they give you unsolicited advice to help you improve your offering?  Will they refer their family and friends?  Will they stay interested in you?  They will if you stay interested in them, by continuing to stay interesting; by continuing to surprise them with new and valuable activities, products, and services, which reinforces their decision to make you a part of their lives. 

Given the very challenging times we live in today, the opportunity to gain people's attention, interest, trust and support by touching their lives in interesting, meaningful and valuable ways is virtually limitless.  What stops most organizations and people is a lack of spirit and purpose, creative idleness, and plain, old-fashioned fear.  Please don't let those things stop you.

Posted December 14, 2008
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