CHRIS WREN | www.chriswren.com (full and mobile versions)

CHRIS WREN BELIEFS FOR A POST-ADVERTISING WORLD. IN THREE SHORT ACTS.

I STOPPED USING THE WORD “CAMPAIGN”.

Campaigns are an interruptive form of communication. They're classic, and belong in a museum with other countless works of genius whose time has simply passed. We've evolved past the campaign. We're ready for what's next.

We need to change our language. Interrupting needs to be replaced with engaging. Where we used to talk frequency and reach, we now should be talking alertness and receptivity. We used to view media as channels. Now, everything is a channel; so plan for touch points, not for media.

Global is inaccessible. Local is next door. Listen to what people think. When they talk, it is about what matters to them, not what we tell them what is unique about goods and services. Engage with that; romance that individual.

WE ARE ENTERING AN EXPERIENCE ECONOMY.

What we used to call Brand Perception, has evolved to Brand Experience. With our virtual lives enhancing our real lives, with our shared thoughts among friends increasingly intertwined with our affinity for brands, is this a surprise?

Companies engage best with customers when they stage an experience in a memorable way. The goods and services are not enough. They are not enough to activate a desire to share or to provide a catalyst for conversations. An experience forces us out of our avatars and virtual lives, into the real life. Products don't happen to you. Experiences do. Some of them can be transformational.

WE CAN MAKE IT REAL. WE HAVE THE DATA.

In your wildest dreams, would you ever imagine creatives moving closer to data analysts, or data analysts being essential to concepting creative ideas? The qualitative and quantitative research up front, allow us to cross-reference what consumers say with how consumers behave. We know where they shop, we know what they buy, and we know what's important enough to them to share in their virtual worlds. In fact, sharing in the social space is customers volunteering their personal data. Media attention accelerating sensational tales about privacy abuse increases the need for us to view customers as partners; thanking them and respecting their personal data; demonstrating we are using that data to improve their experience both in the virtual and real world.

Data is not a number, it is a powerful human expression. Each value represents a choice made by an individual. Customer insights and product truths have merged. There is no distinction between changing attitude and driving behavior.

MORE BY CHRIS WREN

Behavioral economics and choice architecture

Parlez-vous rapport?

BELIEVE IN THE

EXPERIENCE Every marketing communication

a brand sends must ignite or

empower consumers, or better

yet, networks of consumers who

are connected by shared

interests and shared experiences.

Let's focus on the right ones

instead of everyone.