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neilperkin

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Push And Pull

Rob left an insightful comment on my post about the future of newspapers.

"DO STUFF PEOPLE WANT…I say this because there's this attitude today that you have to 'chase down' the customers whereas if you create things with intrigue, interest, values, soul and – for want of a better word – love, you may attract rather than have to continually chase."

This chimes with my own views about the power of what you might call 'generosity' in a networked, connected world – how postivity, altruism, generous ideas are attractive, and so spread quickly and easily and become a powerful form of marketing in their own right (if you want to call it marketing that is – perhaps it's not marketing at all).

Pull, not push. It's not a new idea. But as Rob says, it's perhaps a risky financial strategy. Let's face it, it's way more of a challenge to get people to come to you than it is to pump out a message. It also entirely invalidates the model on which 99% of the current advertising industry is based.

But it's a delightfully appealing idea. And the increasing socialisation of media makes it more possible than ever. And if Mark is right, then it aligns far better with the way in which things spread, which is far more 'pull' (people listen to their peers, react to what they see around them, respond to what other people are doing):

"Our attempts to exert 'exogenous' (extra-system) influence is always going to be much less important than the 'endogenous' (intra-system) factors that shape the propagation of an idea or behaviour through a population."

And if that's right, then strategic thinking comes from a totally different place, and:

"…needs to be rooted more in how the underlying mechanics of propagation works (human-human emulation within a given system etc) than in why individual folk do what they do… put another way: forget doing stuff TO folk; do stuff WITH them."

It all reminds me of something I saw ages ago over at Paul's place from Duncan Marshall, Creative Director of Droga 5:

"The really smart advertising and marketing people are the ones who figure out how to get people to come to them."

So, my question is this – do we think it possible that, one day, it will all work like this?

18 responses to “Push And Pull”

  1. Simon Kendrick Avatar
    Simon Kendrick

    Hi Neil
    Some smart thinking. A couple of thoughts:
    – Certainly possible, but the more people attempting it, the higher the barrier for success becomes. Time and attention will always be finite, and choices on how to best spend that time will be relative more often than absolute
    – While possible, certainly difficult. Like the apocryphal product manager saying he wants a viral ad. It isn’t a genre, it’s an outcome. And, sadly, success rates are low (and entirely visible to others)
    Cheers
    Simon

    Reply
  2. Simon Kendrick Avatar
    Simon Kendrick

    Hi Neil
    Some smart thinking. A couple of thoughts:
    – Certainly possible, but the more people attempting it, the higher the barrier for success becomes. Time and attention will always be finite, and choices on how to best spend that time will be relative more often than absolute
    – While possible, certainly difficult. Like the apocryphal product manager saying he wants a viral ad. It isn’t a genre, it’s an outcome. And, sadly, success rates are low (and entirely visible to others)
    Cheers
    Simon

    Reply
  3. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Hi mate. Thanks for the kind words but like you said, it’s nothing new.
    Can all brands think/act this way? Sure … but like communism, people’s ego and a whole host of other ‘issues’ will stop it being nothing more than the business approach for the few.
    To be fair, one of the biggest problems are shareholders … because as much as they may claim to want their brands (ie: their investment) to make a difference, they tend to judge success surely on profit – hence the desire by companies to demonstrate ‘the chase’ for business because being seen to try can keep you around for longer.
    (This post makes my little comment seem much more impressive, can you write my preso and blog?)

    Reply
  4. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Hi mate. Thanks for the kind words but like you said, it’s nothing new.
    Can all brands think/act this way? Sure … but like communism, people’s ego and a whole host of other ‘issues’ will stop it being nothing more than the business approach for the few.
    To be fair, one of the biggest problems are shareholders … because as much as they may claim to want their brands (ie: their investment) to make a difference, they tend to judge success surely on profit – hence the desire by companies to demonstrate ‘the chase’ for business because being seen to try can keep you around for longer.
    (This post makes my little comment seem much more impressive, can you write my preso and blog?)

    Reply
  5. James @ IIP Avatar
    James @ IIP

    Sounds like you’re advocating almost a cyclical model for promotion. The future of advertising will be to not advertise. It’s a brave strategy and one with a lot of merit, but when it comes to clients and agencies it sounds about as simple as stopping an arms race…

    Reply
  6. James @ IIP Avatar
    James @ IIP

    Sounds like you’re advocating almost a cyclical model for promotion. The future of advertising will be to not advertise. It’s a brave strategy and one with a lot of merit, but when it comes to clients and agencies it sounds about as simple as stopping an arms race…

    Reply
  7. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Advertising is still about ‘promotion’, but in today’s world, it requires more than just passive communication to achieve the results that clients want and that clients will pay a serious amount of money for.
    It won’t be easy because it requires new remuneration models – models clients are uneasy to pay and agencies scared to push – but for those with courage and with clients who want to create fate, not just create ads, it can and does work.
    I should point out this is not new thinking – it was being bashed into my head at HHCL back in the very early 90’s – and having worked at a couple of the so called ‘future agencies’ [Mother and Crispin to name 2] in my time, I can say as good as they are, it was HHCL that really got it and did it … all the others [of which my agency is one] are just going back to the future.

    Reply
  8. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Advertising is still about ‘promotion’, but in today’s world, it requires more than just passive communication to achieve the results that clients want and that clients will pay a serious amount of money for.
    It won’t be easy because it requires new remuneration models – models clients are uneasy to pay and agencies scared to push – but for those with courage and with clients who want to create fate, not just create ads, it can and does work.
    I should point out this is not new thinking – it was being bashed into my head at HHCL back in the very early 90’s – and having worked at a couple of the so called ‘future agencies’ [Mother and Crispin to name 2] in my time, I can say as good as they are, it was HHCL that really got it and did it … all the others [of which my agency is one] are just going back to the future.

    Reply
  9. Mikej Avatar
    Mikej

    Ok then so should every brief start with ‘what do these people pull towards them’.Be it products,brands, entertainment, media etc then you have an idea of a few things to use at your disposal.
    Making you concentrate on making people want it… not telling them they want it
    I had an interesting conversation with a trader mate in Australia. Who is doing quite well in the current situation and I will write on it soon
    http://thingsdonotchangewechange.blogspot.com

    Reply
  10. Mikej Avatar
    Mikej

    Ok then so should every brief start with ‘what do these people pull towards them’.Be it products,brands, entertainment, media etc then you have an idea of a few things to use at your disposal.
    Making you concentrate on making people want it… not telling them they want it
    I had an interesting conversation with a trader mate in Australia. Who is doing quite well in the current situation and I will write on it soon
    http://thingsdonotchangewechange.blogspot.com

    Reply
  11. neilperkin Avatar
    neilperkin

    Reminds me of Mark Earl’s point about ‘doing stuff with people, not at them’. you’re right about the fact that we’ve been here before but I guess the real change is that the potential for interaction as opposed to just communication is that much greater

    Reply
  12. neilperkin Avatar
    neilperkin

    Reminds me of Mark Earl’s point about ‘doing stuff with people, not at them’. you’re right about the fact that we’ve been here before but I guess the real change is that the potential for interaction as opposed to just communication is that much greater

    Reply
  13. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    True Neil … but potential means nothing if the attitude of the people isn’t there. I’ve said it before, but I think 50’s and 60’s advertising – for all it’s faults – was more creative and involving [albeit in a different definition than we have today] than much of the communication being put up on pedestals today.
    [Without wishing to sound a total wanker – even though I will – my PSFK.com preso pretty much explains why, even though I take 30 minutes to say it, ha!]
    As for Mike’s comment on what each brief should start with … well it sounds like he’s still referring to communication being a passive/superficially involving promotional activity … but for me, it’s about getting at the creation end of the business challenge, not just the advertising aspect. I appreciate this is difficult and challenging, but if my little bunch of men can do it for Virgin, Google and NASA to name but a few … a bunch of companies who are a lot smarter than we ever could hope to be … should be able to do it alot more and alot better.

    Reply
  14. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    True Neil … but potential means nothing if the attitude of the people isn’t there. I’ve said it before, but I think 50’s and 60’s advertising – for all it’s faults – was more creative and involving [albeit in a different definition than we have today] than much of the communication being put up on pedestals today.
    [Without wishing to sound a total wanker – even though I will – my PSFK.com preso pretty much explains why, even though I take 30 minutes to say it, ha!]
    As for Mike’s comment on what each brief should start with … well it sounds like he’s still referring to communication being a passive/superficially involving promotional activity … but for me, it’s about getting at the creation end of the business challenge, not just the advertising aspect. I appreciate this is difficult and challenging, but if my little bunch of men can do it for Virgin, Google and NASA to name but a few … a bunch of companies who are a lot smarter than we ever could hope to be … should be able to do it alot more and alot better.

    Reply
  15. neilperkin Avatar
    neilperkin

    Yep – how we define things is perhaps what restricts us. It’s got to be about ‘doing’ at the end of the day. Good thing is, there are people like you Rob who are walking the walk. Props to you (and I mean that)

    Reply
  16. neilperkin Avatar
    neilperkin

    Yep – how we define things is perhaps what restricts us. It’s got to be about ‘doing’ at the end of the day. Good thing is, there are people like you Rob who are walking the walk. Props to you (and I mean that)

    Reply
  17. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Thanks mate – but there’s lots of people doing a lot more – IDEO for example make a mockery of what cynic, Anomoly and god knows who else claim to be making a difference. But still, we’re all better than JWT 🙂

    Reply
  18. Rob @ Cynic Avatar
    Rob @ Cynic

    Thanks mate – but there’s lots of people doing a lot more – IDEO for example make a mockery of what cynic, Anomoly and god knows who else claim to be making a difference. But still, we’re all better than JWT 🙂

    Reply

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