It's Time For A Little Humanity

I believe that the world of screens that is upon us, be it TV, smart phone, computer, you name it, is leading to a distinct lack of people with the ability to hold a personal face to face conversation. I also believe that this is one of the biggest issues in the marketing communications world going forward, as digital grabs a firm hold of the tool kit being used by the industry. This almost single minded focus on interactive in a digital sense, I believe leaves a huge opportunity for interactive in the human "face to face" sense.

I for many years have been a huge proponent of experiential marketing and think the work being done by firms like Momentum and Jack Morton, just to name two I am personally familiar with, is outstanding and a real difference maker in building relevant brand relationships. To me those marketers that engage all the senses of the consumer, in an impactful experience, will win the day over those that just choose to digitally interact with them. Success in building relevant brands comes with striking a balance between digital and human interaction.

So I could not agree more with the following quote from a recent article from McKinsey. "Many retailers assume that customers walk into stores for purely transactional purposes: they know what they want and just need to buy it. Yet McKinsey research indicates that as many as 40 percent of customers remain open to persuasion once they enter a store,despite undertaking extensive product research, reading online reviews, and comparing prices on their own." Just think back to your in store experiences in the past few years. Think of the sales people you have encountered and think of how many added any knowledge or insight beyond what you had already uncovered on-line. If your answer is anything like mine then you will find the attached piece from McKinsey worth the short read.

Enjoy the link and don't forget we are humans not machines.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Rediscovering_the_art_of_selling_2677