“If you could only take one electronic device on to a deserted island, what would it be?” It was the kind of question any handset manufacturer would commissioned its social media agency to ask its fans on Facebook. Except, this was Samsung, and its “fans” didn’t care less. Brands can’t get enough of the “have a conversation with the customers” thing these days. But does it work?

1. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
If you want to sell technology, stop trying to "have a
conversation" with your customers
STOP TRYING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR
CUSTOMERS
“If you could only take one electronic device on to a deserted island, what would it
be?”
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2. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
It was the kind of question any handset manufacturer would commissioned its
social media agency to ask its fans on Facebook.
Except, this was Samsung, and its “fans” didn’t care less.
Brands can’t get enough of the “have a conversation with the customers” thing
these days.
But does it work?
More From Graham Brown's Series on How to Sell Technology
Change Your Metaphors: How great leaders sell technology
These 2 Social Experiments Show How Stories Sell Technology
Why you need to become a Farmer not a Hunter to sell technology
Technology Companies need to Embrace the Unofficial or Die
Why People Buy Technology: Social Proof
Despite the participants having liked the Samsung Facebook page, few actually
wanted to take a Samsung to the desert island.
Arch rivals iphone and iPad featured heavily with a significant mentioning of the
old school favorite the Nokia 1100.
Some smart-ass even posted:
"ummm did anyone check to see if there was even cell service on those island?
duh... how stupid can the marketing dept get!!!! shame shame shame."
Poster Armin Seltz summed up the futility of the Facebook thread:
"In the last 5,000 comments iphone was mentioned 3,637 times.
"Samsung": 473,
"Galaxy": 378,
"iPad" 324.
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3. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
Even the Nokia 3310 gets 112.
What a FAIL :D."
BIG IDEAS DON’T SELL TECHNOLOGY ANYMORE
Samsung is no different to many big brands today.
They grew up in an era when advertising was dominant, when creative agencies
could wave their magic wands and have us talking about the brands in the
schoolyards and campuses the next day.
When the MTV generation gave way to the internet, big brands couldn’t let go of
the advertising model.
Back in the era of the Pepsi Generation, brands started asking agencies to help
them “be part of the conversation” and agencies dutifully complied with the
promise of viral campaigns and social media marketing that would help the brand
find its place in backrooms, bedrooms and dormrooms across the country.
Big brands still want to manage the conversation because they still think we're
back in 1989.
Amazing as ads like these were, they are of a different era. Creative directors and
marketing managers need to get over this nostalgia and look at the raw facts -
people aren't interested in conversations with or about brands anymore.
In fact, they don't want you to have conversations with your friends, but rather
conversations with the brand.
They want you to talk about The Big Idea, their Big Mac and measure it with Big
Data.
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4. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
BIG brands can work with only one monolithic version of cool because they have
so much tied up into their Big Idea. They come from an era of limited shelf space
and scarcity.
It worked for Tony the Tiger and The Pepsi Generation so why doesn’t work for
Samsung and friends today?
LOUDSPEAKER VS TELEPHONE MODEL OF SELLING
TECHNOLOGY
Loudspeaker Telephone
Narrative Tell the official brand story Fans tell their own
unofficial stories
Model Centralized. Top-down.
Monolithic
De-centralized. Bottom-up.
Pluralistic
Distribution Broadcast: one-to-one or
one-to-many
Peer-to-peer: many-to-
many
How it works Tell 'em you're cool, Tell
'em in a BIG way, keep
telling 'em
Give the Fans the tools to
help tell their story
Economics Based on shortage of shelf
space and an abundance
of attention
Based on shortage of
attention and an
abundance of shelf space
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5. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
Tactics Paid media: "Have a
conversation with
customers", campaigns,
PR, celebrity
endorsement, The Big
Idea
Earned media: Help
customers have a
conversation with each
other, grass roots
movements
Metrics Top of mind, recall, market
share, awareness, brand
equity
Recommendation, Net
Promoter Score, Earned
Media Indexes
CONNECT NOT CONTROL THE DOTS
Marketing today isn’t a creative masterpiece beyond the conception of mortal
men - it’s simple conversations that happen between everyday people.
The Big Idea, like the ego that propels it, has no place in the era of many-to-many
conversations.
Metaphors are a powerful tool to shape how we view and sell technology. The Big
Idea may just be a broken metaphor in the digital era.
So what role should tech companies play today if it's not about creating The Big
Idea?
When parents allow their teenage daughter to hold a party for her friends in the
house, the last thing those friends want to see is said parents singing karaoke all
night.
Sure you can add serious value by helping people connect with each other but
don’t try to impose your brand story on their conversations.
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6. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
"Kellogg" brand "candle stick" style telephone from c. early 20th century. (Photo
credit: Wikipedia)
People don’t want a conversation with your brand, they want a conversation with
each other.
Customers don’t pick up the phone to speak to or send a text message to the
phone company; they do it to talk to each other.
But that doesn’t make the phone company worthless by not being part of the
conversation.
The phone company plays a vital role in facilitating this conversation; without it,
the conversation wouldn’t happen.
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