Following on from last weeks article on trust signals, I stumbled across a very interesting statistic. A couple weeks back I listened to some very interesting speakers at the Flux Trends conference in JHB. Led by Dion Chang, a number of speakers delivered insightful presentations on various topics, one of which was Simon Bond from Proximity Media.
One of his statements was:
‘6-8% of consumers trust what a company has to say about its brand. 98% of consumers trust what other consumers say about the brands they use’.
That is a very important statistic! The fact is, that engaging consumers is no longer about broadcasting. Engaging consumers is a dialogue. The customer is now saying “Involve me and I will understand!”. The necessary risk in a new reality is that we hand over our brands to our consumers. Because if they love it, it will spread. Take the the Nike T90 campaign. Here is a huge brand who, rather than spend millions on media and television broadcasting, choose to use the powerful medium of You Tube to engage their consumers and raise the profile of their brand. Using a handy cam they shoot Wayne Rooney performing what can only be described as an inspiring piece of fancy footwork! Take a look at the following link to see the clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4KIA2Cq_c) The clip does not end up on television, but rather on You Tube where it spreads like wild fire. Why? because their is a challenge attached - do what he did, film it and send it in. Those who create the most creative clip get to spend a day with Rooney himself picking up some football tips!
This really makes sense to me. In fact in recent discussions with some of my clients I have replaced the word ‘consumer’ with the word ‘employee’ when it comes to the above statistic. Fact is, a small amount of employees trust what the company has to say and a large amount of them listen to colleagues and friends. In a nutshell, they are simply consumers of a product called employment. Like consumers employees too want to be involved in the development of a company’s brand.
FACT! Engaging your employees around your brand is more about talking and dialogue than it is about broadcasting your vision, values and expectations. You are simply going to have to involve them!
You know what I am loving. The world is changing. In the years leading up to now you have had a choice whether you embrace trends or whether you stick to formula’s that work for you - because you could. The new reality, I believe, is one where you are simply going to have to change and begin the journey of engaging with your consumers or employees in fresh new ways. Why - because we are witnessing a consumer revolution which is both exciting and challenging all in one!
So, whoever you are - are you telling or talking, broadcasting or dialoging. Cause no matter what, there needs to be a pretty good reason why others will choose to follow you.
May you embrace the change!