Sunday, December 30, 2007

Is Relevance Really Even This Day and Age

It has been awhile since I have mentioned relevance. I was reviewing my blog, it's description and it's position as I occasionally do. Sometimes I change a few things because I feel like over time my own personal views change as I learn more - or experience something that leaves an impression or causes a change in thinking.

Something that has not changed are my feelings on how delivering content that your audience truly finds interesting or has a genuine connection to can benefit your organization, but most importantly benefit your audience. (i.e. Nike creating and distributing tips, recommendations and training manuals for runners that educate on points of interest way beyond what sneakers you wear).

I guess this can best be described or explained in examples, not pontification. After all, why should you believe me? I was reading a piece in this month's Wired Magazine that jarred some thoughts and brought me back to this topic.

Once you read this piece, I really do not need to say much more. I guess some folks may want to get into a debate about what media was used, is it advertising, or not, is this "new media" or "permission-based" marketing. All I can say is people always try to box up things they are not accustomed to so a label can be created that makes them feel comfortable or maybe even "relevant" but the reality is it does not matter what it is called. Frankly I think it is some mix of strategic marketing, advertising and just flat out imaginative, creative execution of a plan to produce and deliver content that is relevant to an audience through driving curiosity and promising some sort of conclusion that the audience is craving. Call it what you will - using industry jargon or not. The result was a phenomenal success at getting millions of people to interact - not passively watch - but physically and mentally interact with what the audience considered a relevant subject - or the "product." The bottom line is the "product" being pushed was done so successfully with relevant, cleverly delivered content. A side note, the article briefly mentions "I Love Bees." It was a big success too. Learn more at a couple of sites IGN and Wired.

I guess the trick is understanding your target audience well enough to understand 1. is there any type of content you can deliver that they would consider relevant and 2. if so, would it have anything to do with what you are marketing/selling? Lastly, 3. can you deliver it in a way that enhances or adds to the relevance of the brand or the brand promise; does it associate personal experience or interest with what your brand offers, motivates the audience to engage or creates a great experience that your audience will find enjoyable, fun or even something worthy of sharing with a friend? Is there any real interest? If not you are probably just producing more clutter for the masses to ignore.

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