John Grant outlines ten tips for marketers wanting to build long-term relationships with their customers
Engagement marketing is a different kind of strategy. It's about building relationships over time, rather than focusing on one-off sales. It's reflected in schemes like Tesco Computer for Schools, The Harley Owners Group and eBay Power Sellers. Here are my ten rules of engagement.
1. It's about surprise
The creativity in engagement marketing is unexpected ways to connect with people. For example, Pampers in Mexico teaches parents the
dying art of the improvised bedtime story with radio ads and classes in local parenting groups. Or Jamie Cullum CDs, posters and
information packs were sent to head girls, at all-girl schools across England and Wales.
2. Finding a bigger shared interest
Few categories are so interesting that people are engaged with a deep dialogue on the product. More often it is a case of
generalising the theme. Consider Dove and its Campaign for Real Beauty. Similarly, the Amex in NYC card enables users to access 7,000
venues as if they were a celebrity or hotel concierge.
3. Finding a core audience
Stormhoek wine is made by a new scientific process. This is not something to publicise in a press ad so they made friends with the
uber geeks of the blogging world. Similarly, LEGO's ambassadors have a quarterly conference call with design teams, get inside track
information, use the LEGO ambassador identity. It's every adult fan's dream.
4. See marketing as a gift, not a pitch
There is the economy of commodity, buying and selling, and then the economy of the gift. One example is social production: Linux,
Digg, Wikipedia, YouTube. Fruitstock is a gift from the nice people at innocent. Similarly, Becks became the beer of the art world by
giving away free beer for openings.
5. Give the audience ways to participate, co-create, personalise
Consider Amazon reviews, where a bookstore is turned into a book club. Or the LEGO factory where consumers design a kit online which
can then be bought and made available to others.
6. Market enthusiasm to a broader audience
Your fans are the evidence of your currency; the club that people want to join. A lot of brand value today comes from being the one
everyone is getting into - like the Blackberry, Make Poverty History wristbands or The Harry Potter launch day sleepovers.
7. Being on the same level as your customers
You can email the CEO. meg@ebay.com. Try it. Meanwhile, Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco starts every week on the shop floor.
8. Build an engagement molecule
This is an ongoing stream of good ideas, rather than a consistent brand onion. Topshop's innovations include partnership with Kate
Moss, personal dressers, London Fashion week, Vintage, AIDS auction.
9. Combine innovation with marketing
Get people involved in the actual product or service design and launch new concepts as a result. This gives customers reassurance
that you really do things differently. Where would Apple's 'think different' be without a stream of different devices?
10. Partner with other brands
Partnership can create something which is more engaging - something surprising, bigger and more relevant. The iPod's partners include
Nike, U2, Desperate Housewives and Motorola. Or there's RED and Armani, Coke and Amex.
So those are the rules of engagement. It is a different way of thinking. In a world of brands hitting on people in dingy nightclubs,
in case 1 in a 100 might say yes, brand engagement is what it sounds like; building a long-term relationship.
John Grant is a marketing consultant and author. He was the co-founder of St Lukes advertising agency. His latest book is called The Brand Innovation Manifesto www.brandtarot.com