Brands, let’s find the magic moments

We need to move our attention away from the micro moments – where brands display their meaningfulness – towards the magic moments where those brands are built, writes David Brennan.

I read a very interesting article this week about the changing role of brands, and how they need to exist within a multitude of ‘micro moments’ that make up the average consumers’ day; I suspect, to a large degree, there is some truth in that assertion. It chimes with the zeitgeist-y angst around our culture of constant distraction, short attention spans and always-on connection with everyone and everything.

Brands that are able to successfully negotiate their way into the clamour and clutter of everyday life know their place. They don’t need to shout for attention alongside a number of unrelated online ads; but they know how to bring value into their audience’s lives. They will not seek to lure potential customers in through false promises or clickbait-friendly stunts, but they will extend the brand’s meaningfulness via relevant and welcomed entertainment, information or utility.

I am beginning to see an upsurge in the number of powerful case histories around the way brands are working effectively in this space, using technology to fine tune the three main drivers of engagement – content, context and audience mindset – in order to create marketing impact. Many of them demonstrate meaningfulness in a very efficient way – providing the benefits to the consumer without adding to the clamour and clutter invading their distracted lives.

Many of them perform this invisibly – using technology and data management to optimise their position in consumers’ lives; providing maximum utility for minimum distraction.

Good for them. They are doing what digital does best; maximising efficiencies at the margins.

Looking at the real world, though, I think we need to consider how much of a brand’s bottom-line performance comes from performing its day-to-day role in this always-on, multi-media, distraction-heavy world of micro moments and short attention spans…and how much is driven by the brand itself.

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During the days when brand-led advertising became the poor relation of response-led marketing, I became increasingly perplexed as to why the brand itself was so undervalued. In an attention deficit environment, when people are bombarded with advertisers shouting ‘look at me!’, doesn’t the brand become more important? Surely the brand signifiers – trust, reputation, quality, innovation, value – become an integral part of the filtering system we use to manage almost limitless choice.

Of course, eventually the data caught up, and we began to understand that even short-term response and engagement is driven by those brand-led, often implicit, influences.

In which case, we should move our attention from the micro moments – where brands display their meaningfulness – towards media’s magic moments – where those brands are built.

One thing I’ve learned is that every trend provides a counter-trend; I think this is part of people’s fundamental need for stability and balance. So, as music became increasingly digital, a greater value becomes attached to the analogue; vinyl records or live concerts. Similarly, as life becomes increasingly fast-paced, people look for moments of stillness, calm, focus or escapist entertainment.

These are the ‘magic moments’, media are still often used to satisfy them, and – in general – brands are still allowed a place in them as long as they don’t intrude or annoy. They become part of the experience, and it is during those moments that their meaning is created and conditioned.

You won’t be surprised to learn that I still strongly believe legacy media continue to dominate this space; which is a major reason why they can still sell at a significant CPM premium. Online comes into its own when brands enter the world of micro moments.

The big question is, how do we identify these magic moments and use them to maximum effect? To answer that, we have to get away from the business of measuring simple exposure (especially if it is limited to 50% visibility for 1 second) and understand the power of context, creativity and consumer understanding to create engagement at times in which consumers are willing to engage.

Across the hundreds of media research projects I have worked on over the past three decades I have seen irrefutable proof that some media exposures work significantly better than others.

Every major media channel can point to moments when their content is read/heard/viewed with full attention and total engagement. The family sitting together to watch Saturday night TV. Individuals engrossed in the Sunday supplements with the house in total silence, or having a half hour magazine break in between the constant demands of day-to- day life. Or a visit to the cinema with a group of friends.

These latter three examples help to demonstrate whist these moments are worth to today’s media consumers. In an age of almost unlimited free access to ‘content’, people still choose to pay their hard-earned money to create their own media magic moments. It is worth it to get the right content, on the right device at the right time because the moment itself is of real value.

I’ve found it fascinating to observe that these are often the moments when brands are allowed to contribute to the experience, as long as they enhance it and don’t attempt to distract. Whether it is the perfect football ad coming on in the half-time break, the aspirational, indulgent imagery of fashion magazine ads or the perfectly-pitched cinema ads often acting as the ideal pre-movie entertainment. I believe these are the moments when brands are made and when their core values are moulded and demonstrated to the world.

Brands like Yeo Valley, with their ‘X-Factor’ – exclusive media plan, have flourished as a result.

I’m not saying digital isn’t an important element of this process, but it is much more about reaping the benefits of strong, relevant branding than creating those brand attributes to begin with.

Yet, when I look around at the tsunami of data media professionals are expected to base their decisions on, there is far too little about the magic moments; which media channels create them, how we can identify them and how they contribute to advertising effectiveness and payback.

If we are to counter the commoditisation of media, and optimise each media channel’s strengths, we need to focus more on the magic – and its impact on brand value – rather than measuring all exposures equally to the nth degree.