Consumer engagement: Stimulating interaction with your brand.

Consumer engagement has been a buzz word throughout the advertising and marketing industry for at least the last few years, and arguably beyond that. It’s not enough for a communication piece to grab the reader’s attention, it must engage them. So what does engagement really mean, and how do we achieve it?

In my experience, whether we’re talking about advertising or general communication between two people, it’s easier to engage a person with emotion rather than logic. Emotion elicits a chemical response in our brains that gives us a physical sensation. Sometimes the sensation is good, sometimes bad.

Logic, on the other hand makes you think (which, in itself, is not always a bad thing). It is a rational response based on a series of steps that reinforce what we perceive to be true. It is important that we distinguish perceiving truth rather than knowing it, because as we all have experienced, our perception is our own reality.

The fundamental flaw to logic is that people (consumers) don’t make decisions based on logic. We want people to think we make decisions based on logic, but in the end it’s pure gut feel. I’ve seen it in many focus groups and my own buying experiences, I know the logical selection based on perceived price, quality, functionality, etc., yet I still choose the product that is more expensive because it just seems cooler – think Axe deodorant.

While emotion aids in engagement, simply bringing emotion to advertising is not enough. We need to identify with consumers on their terms. Our brand must reflect what our consumers believe in and how they live their life everyday.

Method products have done an outstanding job of this. Method has not only produced products that create a connection with their consumers, they produce products that identify with their consumers (in a category that is often referred to as a commodity or low-involvement category). Method’s products are not only safe (many household products contain various levels of poisons), they are also the epitome environmentally friendly, mirroring the views of their core consumers.

Beyond that, Method has even taken it a step further. They have made their consumers brand ambassadors. They create an interaction with them to try new products, to give feedback and to help spread the word. As a result, these consumers are the most brand loyal I have ever seen.

Consumer engagement is more than just sprinkling the emotional fairy dust over our advertising. It is about creating a two-way dialogue with our consumers. Your consumers want to talk to you, you just have to give them the forum and listen. And that’s the catch, you have to listen. If you listen, your consumers will pay you back with loyalty. If you don’t they’ll pay you back by switching to your competitor – who is listening.