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Ought to digital advertising give attention to perform over emotion? CMOs debate

Should digital marketing focus on function over emotion? CMOs debate

For many brands, the past year has been a race to stay relevant and offer the most seamless experience possible in the digital channels in which consumers increasingly spend their time – from social media to e-commerce to video conferencing tools. When the main goal is to keep the lights on, communication has been mostly focused on facts and functions. But is there a role for emotions and opinions in digital marketing that has been overlooked?

At the campaign’s Digital360 festival, CMOs from the alcohol, beauty and financial services industries, all of whom have been disrupted in some way by the Covid-19 pandemic, discussed whether there was any role in digital marketing more than just promotions and services to offer. and on which platforms should brands try to make a point or use consumer emotions.

Suresh Balaji, CMO of HSBC APAC, is a pragmatist who believes digital marketing should be mostly functional.

“I don’t think we should make an effort to get humanity to do this,” he said. “The customer will not give any idea of ​​whether your banners are soft or not if they are looking for something functional at this point. You will do more damage to your brand by talking about something fluffy when the customer is actually looking for certain information or not they are in the buying cycle. Then don’t have a conversation, you will be very deaf. “

At the session, two-thirds (67%) of attendees said they felt that digital marketing is function-oriented rather than emotive, according to a survey of the audience.

Mika Kanai, general manager for corporate media and digital marketing at Shiseido China, is more platform specific.

“Marketers need to be aware of the type of communication that is required for good performance [in certain platforms]”, she said.” In e-commerce in particular, it differs significantly from the traditional brand marketing perspective. It’s much more functional and beneficial: consumers don’t search for emotional keywords on ecommerce platforms. Product usage is a more important connection time with the consumer. “

However, Kanai warned that shifting marketing communications too much onto the platform “risks losing the opportunity to communicate from an emotional point of view what the brand stands for”.

This is where dedicated platforms and online forums become important tools.

“Take platforms where there is consumer interest in the content and engagement from the content. Obviously, there are more opportunities for us to talk from different angles,” said Kanai. “The other way is consumer-to-consumer communication within a group of people who have a similar point of interest. Brands want to facilitate the conversation through a chat group and be a connector.”

Yann Soenen, Vice President of Marketing at Pernod Ricard China, noted that using digital channels to understand consumer sentiment, not just move content, is “fundamental to the way we approach marketing.”

“It’s very much about understanding your consumer goals, your trunks that you want your brand to be part of, understanding their passion points, and then figuring out how to be part of the conversation instead of trying to send a message,” he said. “Then you can build a relationship with your consumer, create conversation, and actually let them create content. That’s very powerful. That way, you build trust and loyalty with your brand.

“As marketers, we have a duty to use digital in order not only to push content and to overlook emotions. On the contrary, we have to use digital technology to better understand who consumers are, what they feel and what they then think of react.” that appropriate. “

HSBC’s Balaji cautioned against brands that focus on emotion and branding without investing in their product or ensuring a seamless digital customer experience.

“If a brand appeals to you emotionally, it’s just heart and mind and all goosebumps, but it doesn’t deliver its product at all, will consumers buy it or not?” he asked.

“The key is to make sure that the promises are being kept in some way,” he continued. “I could have the best car in the world and it sounds amazing, but in the morning when I have to take my daughter to school and the car doesn’t start, my love for the brand drops like a lead balloon. And then when I call customer service and they don’t pick up the phone it gets worse. If I complain on social media and social media doesn’t respond, it gets worse. I like your advertising, I might love your WeChat channel and influencers. But once the functionality stops working, that’s the end. Therefore, there is a great risk for marketers and brand managers who try to create high expectations of the brand and end up under-delivering. “

Soenen at Pernod Ricard pointed out that a standout campaign “gives you a chance to be tried,” but agreed that the quality of the product will determine whether or not a consumer comes back.

Social media: risk versus reward

Social media is a powerful tool for brands to provide customer service, maintain personal relationships with prospects, and hone their brand voice. It’s an empowering, yet unforgiving, medium where brands can be instantly voided if they strike the wrong chord or fail to do their due diligence.

It’s particularly sensitive in China, Shanghai-based Kanai pointed out, where there are countless examples of brands being boycotted on Weibo and WeChat after being offended.

“There have been some major social crisis incidents in China, some of which could have been avoided,” Kanai said. “The most important case is when new brands come to China and there is not enough respect for the local culture or the trust of the local partners in China trying to do what is right for the context of the market. That is very disastrous, and it is. ” is really hard to recover. “

Brands also need to be aware when working with celebrities to understand their personal views and make sure they align with the brand, she said.

Despite the risk, Kanai believes brands should try to take a social stand rather than just pushing marketing forward.

“There are always some risk points for brands in the social arena, but the question is whether or not it’s worth the risk.” She said. “If the brand has a very specific point of view that it firmly believes in, then I think it is the right risk to pay attention to being able to react to different consumer sentiments and to be ready to intervene in the right way.”

An audience survey found that an overwhelming 79% of respondents actively seek or support brands that are willing to be human and take a stand.

HSBC’s Balaji provided three basic rules for brands on social media: It’s not just a broadcast medium, it’s a conversation with consumers. Make sure that customer service representatives are available to respond to customer inquiries. and don’t be afraid.

“We will not [always] Get it right, but that you are there to join the conversation instead of customers talking to each other about you, “he advised.” As we all know, reputation is what people say when you are not in the room but with social, the opportunity is to be in the room and still build your reputation. “

Bringing humanity into technology

Digital technology is an opportunity for brands to provide better and more convenient services, according to Balaji. However, in order to use technology to empower humanity, it takes significant human intervention, he believes.

He pointed to artificial intelligence as an example. It is a technology that, in its simplest form, uses historical data sets to identify patterns in order to predict the future. However, simply entering historical data without understanding the context can lead to problems like AI bias. A change in the settings and regulations of the consumers is also not taken into account.

“If we look at some of the advertisements from back then, it was in the 1930s that cigarettes were advertised like the ones doctors used,” Balaji said. “I don’t ask questions about what was moral at the time, but you would never be able to say now. What we think is moral, immoral, ethical, unethical – advertising has changed a lot in the last few years. And it’s developing now even faster.

“If we just look at history and try to get the AI ​​to repeat history then we all have a big problem as marketers. But if we step in to say that was the story, but we’ll try To predict the future and create an overlay for the future and we’re going to put some guard rails in place. That’s a role of a really good marketing director. To say where is the zeitgeist? Where is the world going? What makes good, what makes bad from what makes hope. What does it matter how we want the next generation of consumers to use our products and services? All of this will not come from machines, but from people. “

Three quarters of respondents (75%) said that not enough is being done to ensure that digitizing services is sustainable and good for people.

This story first appeared in the Asia Pacific Campaign.