The new world: Innovations require a mutual understanding of communication

 

 

The era of success of “Advertisement with media” undergoing resolution cultivated the thinking: The brand makes the communication. The necessary new thinking now turns this around: The communication makes the brand! As depicted, the pressure on the companies increases to act loss-free and above all profitable with their communication activities.

This is only possible if three basic principles are internalised:

1. Communication is matter of the top-manager.

2. Communication must always be valuable.

3. Communication profits from digital competence.

The contemporary communication specialist knowledge in marketing and in the management levels of the companies is not very distinct. [The author of this communication compendium has experience as college lecturer that communication designers nor marketing experts and business economists are taught about contemporary communication innovations in their studies.]. For decades one has regarded the “Advertisement in media” ultimate ratio in research and teaching and has required a standardised repertoire of communication tools. The consequences of digitalisation and the usage of Smart Communication could therefore not be correctly evaluated. Proof of Concept: The Internet was taken in as advertisement medium the minute the number of users exploded. Billions were spent by placing mounds of so-called display advertisement in form of banners, pop-ups etc. The incentive: Online advertisement was said to be cheaper than advertisement in print and TV.

However: The effect of online display advertisement was and is marginal. The lacking understanding and wrong evolution of the Internet and World Wide Web becomes a perversion and certifies the pure greed of the marketers and agencies for new income flows. Methods were advertised and asserted for the online advertisement on parts of the marketers, who are subsidiary of the established media houses, together with the media agencies, that are part of the leading agency holding, that consciously blend out the superiority and chances of the Smart Communication via web, by transferring the standards for TV and print advertisement more or less one to one, in order to be able to sell and bill placement of online advertisement. This results in three negative aspects:

1. Advertisers are misled.

2. The communication culture in the web is damaged by harassing advertisement.

3. Innovation opportunities are underutilized.

The current situation depicts the following image: 

• Nearly 100 % of the workplaces/offices and over 80 % of the households in the leading economic nations possesses an Internet access.
• People of all age groups use digital communication media extensively — for telephony, self management, online communication, video, photography, listening to music, speech memos, shopping, entertainment, reading a book, etc. up to the own creation of print products via linked digital printing.
• The number of the mobile Internet-access devices is exploding.
• “Being digital” depicts the normal situation of the most people at home and at the office. The digitalisation of communication, entertainment, and commerce based on Smart Technologies is comprehended and valued by most people as new culture technology, which offers fun and versatile interaction opportunities next to the numerous advantages.
• Drivers of the “Digital Lifestyle” are companies and organisations (like e.g. Apple or Wikimedia Foundation), who have established innovative business models and processes with high communication technology competence in the last 10 to 15 years.

The last mentioned however in sum only provide a tiny small part of the entirety of the companies and organisations. Meaning: The majority of the providers is behind in the already existing opportunities, and must urgently freshen up its communication competence and improve it significantly. But this has not happened yet. Instead, everything is continued as before by relocating budgets or provided additional budgets, in so far this can be afforded. One tries to avoid tackling the most important task, to amend the brand name and product communication and not only perform cosmetics, or one relies on alibi-measures.

Conclusion

There is no way that uncontrolled and not very thought-through multi channel and multi dimensional communication leads to an increase of the quality and attractiveness of the content, but rather to flattening and confusion. In the end the consequence is growing dissatisfaction of the purchaser/consumers that miss lacking originality or creativity, do not feel taken seriously anymore and even hunted or at least pursued. Further consequences are:

1. The rejection towards the traditional push-advertisement and media work is growing, because one feels increasingly harassed.
2. The public résumé of the advertising businesses and the journalists looses greatly.
3. The “victims” — we as purchasers, consumers, readers, users, etc. — keep our eyes open for new things respectively for alternatives in order to be able to become independent. Among other things, this explains the rapid success of social media projects.