Melt 2015: "The more unconditional you are, the more you get"

Speaking on day one of Melt 2015, Huib Van Bockel, founder and advisor, The Social Brand, opened on an ominous note, saying ‘something is seriously going wrong in the business’ (of advertising and marketing). 

 

He elaborated, “Online has passed or will soon pass television in most markets. Television has become the second screen. Yet, the share of ad spends (on TV) in the US are 42 per cent, while digital is 28 per cent. Marketers and advertisers shouldn’t believe people are glued to television, waiting for your ad to come. We have to change our behaviour. There is no longer an audience waiting for your message. Back in the old days you had 30 or 60 seconds to convey your message. Now, marketing has become like Tinder. With all those ad options you see online, you have a second to decide whether you want to see it or swipe away. You really need to target your consumer, as people are all over the place.”

 

Referring to ad blockers, he added, “When people feel attacked, they build walls. Consumers are using ad blockers and those kinds of things to avoid your ads. The more we target consumers, the more they’ll block us.”

 

He then presented a chart (Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey) which showed how ‘bought media’ is lesser trusted. Earned media, the study quoted said, was trusted by 60 to 90 per cent of people.

 

Amongst bought media, TV ads were trusted by most at 47 per cent, while mobile SMS advertising was trusted by 29 per cent. He said, “We are not spending more on digital connectivity. The key is not to be on social, it is to be social. We need to ask the right questions. We have to stop asking ‘Please love me’; instead we have to ask, ‘How can I love you more?’ Brands should ask people, ‘What should we do for you?’ They need to give people something truly worthwhile that they will want to share with others. People will only listen to you, if they want to listen to you.”

 

Van Bockel, then presented a brand ‘bank account’.

 

Deposits	Withdrawal
Brand mission	TV, Radio, Pop-up ads.
Marketing Activations that make those missions come alive
Content, events, games, apps

 

He explained, “I’m not saying do away with the traditional ads. But, the love comes when you do something that the consumer loves. Google’s brand mission is to make the world’s information available to all. They don’t have ads to say that. They constantly do that instead with stuff like Google Maps etc.”

 

Another example was from Red Bull, a company he worked for prior. “Their mission is to give wings, to people and to ideas and they’ve looked to do that by innovative activations.”

 

He also cited the case of brands not doing it right: “Coca-Cola is the biggest brand in terms of Likes on Facebook (90 million). Yet, they put a post on social media asking people to watch their latest ‘Open Happiness’ TVC. This make me cry. This post got only 91 ‘Likes’, that’s like one in a million liking their posts.”

 

Another example was from India. This was the work done by Halonix, which provided LED lights at dark spots, which could potentially be a danger zone for women.

 

He surmised, “You get what you give. The more unconditional you are, the more you get.”