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Le'Nise Brothers"Businesses must understand the people’s social agenda by looking at social actions / behaviours that sway purchase #IPAsocial"
In the age of the shareholder, the agenda of businesses has been orientated around generating maximum profit and consequently, they have focused on engendering behaviour that is centered on the usage / consumption of their products and services. Revenue created from these actions will benefit the business, the share price and the shareholders.
However, this agenda can fundamentally clash with the social agenda of real people, which centers on actions, behaviours and new and old technologies that allow them to share, connect, interact, learn, love, have fun and enjoy new experiences.
For businesses to operate effectively in this new age of communication, it’s fundamental for them to adopt an approach that hinges on understanding the social agenda of real people. They must get amongst the people who use their products / services, not strictly to look at purchase behaviour, but to look at social actions or behaviours that may influence purchase. Inherent in this is a study of the new ways that people connect, socialize, interact and communicate with each other.
Although businesses will never achieve 100% understanding (humans are highly complex creatures, after all), those that succeed in such an approach will then be able to market with people, rather than at them. Ultimately, these businesses will be able to communicate in more meaningful ways and create more evocative experiences that connect with and enhance people’s lives and social agendas.
Unsurprisingly, Nike is a company that has fully embraced this ethos. Simon Pestridge, their UK marketing director said recently that, “advertising is about achieving awareness, and [they] no longer need awareness.” He believes that they “need to become a part of people’s lives,” and that they want to “inspire consumers to seek out their content” and “this is the model [they] will be following from now on.” They believe that they understand their customers much better than anyone else and continue to learn by doing things like “running ideas past a kid on a football pitch. If [we] don’t get laughed at…then they’re probably on the right track.” (http://www.revolutionmagazine.com/news/889695/Nike-Just-digital/)
Join the conversation, hosted by Le'Nise Brothers at: http://lenisebrothers.com/2009/09/29/ipasocial-principle-02-social-agenda-not-business-agenda/
