Is it time that Awareness Advertising reclaim its throne from Engagement?
Adweek recently posted a thought-provoking article “Advertisers Need to Stop Chasing Engagement and Get Back to Focusing on Awareness.” I haven’t enjoyed a decent night’s sleep since reading it. Up is down. Minus is plus.
I arrived to advertising at the tail-end of Awareness, when brands were gobbling up market share by posting as my TV spots, outdoor and magazine articles as inhumanly possible. Those were simpler days. As a copywriter, my task was to develop creative that cracked though that clutter. A little moxie was all a writer needed to excel.
And then came along Engagement, the softer side of advertising.
Listen, we always thought we were engaging. This Bud’s for YOU, right? But the rise of the internet and its omnipresent chat rooms and social media delivered the power away from brands and to the people. Suddenly, advertising was no longer dictating the terms of the message. Now advertising was simply trying to keep up with the conversation.
Amusingly, advertising agencies tried to convince themselves (and their clients) that they had a handle on Engagement. Every agency had a social guru or an engagement formula that redirected control back to brands. We told our clients “We can make this Bud for Jennifer! Or Gary! We have the big data!”
But control is an illusion. Consumers know when they’re being marketed to. They can discern the difference between good information and #premium #content. They know an email that starts with their first name will likely end with a pitch. Maybe we’re lousy Engagers.
And maybe that’s why Awareness needs to make a comeback. We can still engage, sure. Engagement can't go away because the technology isn't going away. But perhaps advertising should recognize that its role isn’t to ingrain itself into your lifestyle, but support it through wonder and possibility.
Maybe this Bud really is for YOU.