The Selfish Digital Consumer

me, myself, and mine
How the Digital Age Created the Selfish Consumer
(And What You Should Do About It)
An agency perspective from Bridge Worldwide

Part I: The Pitch 1
Part II: The Catch 5
Chapter 1: Who? What? Now! 6
Chapter 2: What Does Selfish MEan? 10
Chapter 3: What I Want 12
Chapter 4: When I Want It 16
Chapter 5: Where I Want! 20
Chapter 6: In the Forms I Want 24
Chapter 7: With No Interruptions 28
Chapter 8: As Much or As Little! 31
Chapter 9: Filtered by My Peers (And Backed by Expert Opinion) 34
Chapter 10: And Then I’ll Share It with My Friends 39
Chapter 11: But Don’t You Dare Tell a Soul You Know Me! 44
Part III: The Switch 49
Chapter 12: What Is the Question? 50
Chapter 13: Apply the Solution 52
Chapter 14: Applicate Yourself 55
Chapter 15: Appli-What? Appli-Who? 58
Chapter 16: The Solution to Evolution 64
Chapter 17: The Grand Finale 72
Chapter 18: And in Conclusion… 76

Let’s face it. Humans are inherently selfish. And that’s a good thing. It’s the
reason we’re able to write this book and print it on trees that died for the cause.
Because ever since a) Adam took a bite of that apple, or b) ancient protozoans
wanted more than just salt water (we are equal opportunity believers here), it’s
been our selfish tendencies that have propelled us forward.
Now let’s take a tremendous leap forward to today, where selfishness has
actually caused an evolution of our most plentiful resource—consumers.
Armed with the ability to digitally choose content, skip advertising, and bypass
ordinary marketing tactics, these newly evolved hominids now have the power
to be selfish beyond reason—to access, watch, and, most importantly, buy with
selfish impunity.

My Club!
But fear not. There is hope. For agencies are selfish,
too. And if we don’t get smart about targeting the
people we need to hook, then we’ll all be out of a job.
However, to do that, we first need to understand what
the selfish consumer is really all about.
And that’s where this story begins….
3

This isn’t your boss’s consumer.
7

Remember the days when you could take a drive without your cell phone and
not freak out?
It’s the same way with anyone who uses TiVo®
. Once you start, there’s no
way you can imagine TV without it. But what is it about TiVo that makes it so
unbelievably essential that you can’t live (or imagine how you grew up) without
one? It’s not the media. Let’s face it: Since the ’90s, not much has changed. It’s
something more fundamental.
Control—It’s No Longer Remote
The difference is that technology such as TiVo, iPods, and even blogs provides
new ways to control, manage, and select old-media formats. While the ’80s and
’90s were all about the creation of new media (e.g., the ascent of MTV), this
century is all about accessing new media in less controllable formats (e.g., the
descent of MTV). This not only alters consumer behavior, but it also has forever
shifted consumer attitudes. Instead of being grateful for what they are given,

consumers are now greedy for what they like. And
because they’re equipped with a nearly infinite array
of technological possibilities to filter their content, they
have become what traditional advertisers would call
“the mother of all nightmares.”
We prefer to call them selfish. But that’s a good thing.
Here’s why.
9

The selfish consumer is all about the “me,” as in,
“This is where I am. This is what I want. So give it
to me already.”
This new state of mind breaks away from traditional
capitalism and, therefore, is far removed from
traditional advertising and marketing. In fact, it’s
so anti-traditional that consumers have adopted a
selfish new mantra that we’ve deciphered. It goes a
little something like this:
11

While consumers want new and interesting ways to get the media they want, the
media itself has not really changed.
Simply put, while content isn’t everything, it is still the king. It’s just that the king
has some new clothes.
But what exactly is content?
13

It’s become more than just creative-executions-across-a-broad-spectrum-of-
media-that-waits-to-be-mercilessly-gobbled-up-by-consumers. Content has,
in fact, been redefined by consumers to fit their lives, their schedules, and
their mediums. Rather than being the small fish in the immense marketing
sea, consumers now have the ability to see eye-to-eye, scale-to-scale, pond-
to-pond. Do a quick search for your favorite consumer brand on YouTube™.
See what comes up. Sure, a lot of what you find will suck. Even the brand
name might be misspelled. But think about what’s really being said. And
what is really being seen.
The old content model

It’s not just content. It’s conversations. And while content is still at the top of the
food chain, how, what, and where these conversations occur has become just
as important.
Anyone have a towel?
The new content model
15

What would you do if you could travel in time? Journey back to when dinosaurs
walked the Earth? Go forward to see the next millennium?
Well sorry, the laws of physics just won’t allow time travel. However, contrary to
popular belief, you can time shift.
My Time, Me Time, Any Time
Thanks to the power of TiVo, cell phone multitasking, and that crazy thing called
the Internet, the framework that built the traditional marketing and advertising
platform has forever shifted and, in fact, is crumbling.
No longer are we subservient to prime-time hours. No longer are we locked into
when we see what we do not want to miss. We have enabled consumers to
time-shift media to match their schedule. At their beck. At their call.
17

Prime time ain’t what it used to be.

In fact, there are even ways to watch those long-lost shows that were once
relegated to the dustbin of history, whenever you want. Instead of having to watch
another repeat of The King of Queens, you’ll be able to watch episodes of Chico
and the Man over and over.
So Long, Nielsen
But let’s look at the bigger picture. Think about all of the paradigms that will have
to shift to adjust to this time-free viewing pattern. With our TiVo storing programs
to watch at any time… with our phones accessing our TiVo to watch any where…
with our laptop syncing with our phone to deliver content any way we want, the
future of content is the death of prime time.
19

Ever been in a house built before 1950? Sure you have. Bet you’ve noticed that
there’s not one room made for a TV bigger than 19” (plasma doesn’t count, so
don’t get us started). That’s because before TV, living rooms were made for
actual talking, or if you were a real gadget guru, for listening to the radio.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
So let’s talk about the radio and its evolution. Back when radios were big, clunky,
and gothic looking, they had a few channels with a captive audience—the family
whole. As they became more portable and advanced, the formats changed, the
audience changed, and radio eventually became the multi-segmented
micro-demographic it is today.
21

Video Shifty
Video content is undergoing the same change. But because technology is
progressing at an infinitely quicker pace, it’s literally happening before our
eyes. Instead of being limited to our TV room, a movie theater, or our desktop,
the consumer’s desire for accessibility is immediately matched by new digital
relationship marketing solutions from a new generation of media providers.
Channel Travel
This “location shift” allows for free, purchased, or even pirated content to go
wherever consumers may be. It’s already started with products like Sony’s
LocationFree®
TV and Slingbox™. So now, instead of being relegated to
watching the lowly Dodgers in Los Angeles, you can watch a streaming
broadcast of the Reds that was DVRed earlier. And this one belongs to…

Plug-and-Play Part Two, Electric Boogaloo
Soon, virtually any and every major electronic device will be able to
communicate and sustain a potential consumer dialogue. Where you once
had to plug into an outlet, plug into your Internet, and then get everything to
play together, consumers soon will be able to just plug and play away. You’ll
be able to initiate dialogue through the refrigerator, the television, even the
house…. Think about the possibilities, and the ramifications. Then think about
how different your child’s dream house will be built in 20 years. So much for
that granite bar in the basement.
23

In this new digital-access world of ours, things are topsy-turvy. Instead of
form following function, it’s now function following form. And it’s becoming
increasingly unbalanced.
Media that isn’t available in the formats consumers choose will be overlooked,
ignored, and eventually abandoned.
Think of all of the different entertainment formats and mediums that are
currently available to consumers....
25

Now think about how many formats you or your clients are advertising within—
at the same time—for every initiative. Because if you’re missing one, you’re
missing a ton.
This is just the beginning. As cable, satellite, router, server, and wireless
technologies keep improving, the methods of media access will have to
keep pace. Let’s face it: The odds are that in five years, these lists will be as
outdated as your home phone.
27

In this brave, new digital world, there is an antidote for interruptions, better
known as marketing and advertising (face it—it’s what we do). This elixir is
anonymity. Because when you can look at content with no strings attached, the
content becomes more pure. At least in the eyes of the beholders. To them, the
message becomes clearer, less tainted.
Free (ain’t) dom.
29

Hands Off My Free!
Consumers are no longer satisfied with having to register for access. They are
savvy enough to know that with an email or text address, a bevy of interruptions
will soon be coming. With a seemingly limitless ability to circumvent our
tentacles of contact, consumers no longer have to stand for watching a 30-
second video, or registering countless times, or being subject to infinite emails,
texts, or even snail mail.
Websites such as bugmenot.com are already dedicated to keeping consumers
anonymous by providing artificial usernames and passwords to popular
registration-required sites across the Internet. It’s effectively doing the same
thing to Web content that TiVo and DVRs have done to television—further
shrinking our windows of opportunity to communicate our clients’ messages.
But as one window closes (or at least gets the shades pulled down), new
opportunities arise. What are they? Don’t worry; we’ll get to that.

The selfish consumer is not subject to our pesky rules of timely,
organized distribution.
While you might be on a monthly, weekly, or even daily schedule of delivering
new content (and if you’re doing it daily, hats off to you!), selfish consumers
reside on a new plain of time and space. While it is up to us to provide said
materials in a time frame that’s familiar, consumers will choose when, how, and
how much content they will peruse.
The key for us is to create logical pathways that seamlessly connect the monthly
to the weekly to the daily—even to the hourly—updates consumers crave. Good
websites make this possible. Great agencies get their clients to behave like one.
Those Wild and Wacky Widgets

How do you stack up?
The growing popularity and functionality of widgets have been supplementing
and replacing Web hits, search engines, and email registrations. With the
integration of desktop data widgets into Internet Explorer®
7.0, all of the big
boys (Apple®
, Google™, Microsoft®
, and Yahoo!®
) have made a plethora of free
content instantly available, with little effort required.
To the selfish consumer, it’s all reward, no risk. To the smart marketer, it’s
opportunity, with no ceiling. Do you see how?
33

filtered by my peers (and backed by expert opinion)
9

In the retail industry, on average, one out of every 10 customers who experiences
great service will tell a friend about it. However, seven out of 10 customers who
experience bad service will pass their recollection along.
That might sound unfair, but if you look deeper, there’s a more hidden truth: That
one person who advocates for the retailer is more effective than all advertising,
marketing, and sales promotions combined. By extolling their personal experience
and resulting benefits in an unbiased manner to a new consumer, the chance that
this new audience will be persuaded to a new way of thinking—potentially becoming
a new customer—increases dramatically.
That one person has become the new expert of the 21st century. More trusted than
four out of five doctors. More informed than a reporter. More vital than a media plan.
However, when it comes to online peers, it gets tricky. In the beginning it was all
good. You searched for electronics at Amazon.com, you read the reviews, you chose,
you bought. But then the truths were revealed.
35

Instead of peer pressure, it’s now peer measure.
Who are these reviewers? Are they product reps? Paid “consumers”? While
companies such as eBay®
adopted a reputation model—where, essentially,
you could rate the rater—few others had the foresight to follow this lead.
Skepticism returned.
TRUTH
TRUST

The Rise of Blog-thenticity
Without a face-to-face experience, the trust factor started to erode. Yet with all
of the online content out there, there had to be some happy middle ground. For
while you didn’t have to be a doctor to be considered an expert, you definitely
had to be an authentic user.
And not coincidently, blogs were born. User sites were created, and authenticity
was restored. That is, until we (agencies) created our own blogs for our clients,
our own “user” generated sites. It had the potential to be an endless cycle. But
it won’t be. The selfish consumer is amazingly adaptable, even cunning. And
where one barrier rises, a new path emerges.
An example of this continued evolution became apparent with the rise of
celebrity blog “managers” such as Ana Marie Cox, founder of “Wonkette,” who
by sheer passion, talent, and insight created a blog that, for a time, became
more relevant and popular than Meet the Press.*
37
* At least according to Google, and why would they lie?

Cox’s blog didn’t grow through mass marketing, time-tested traditions, or
network support, but because a bunch of those “happy customers” kept telling
people how happy they were. Her success was just a sample of the kindling
that sparked an entire world of politico blogs and websites that were beholden
to no one except their creators.
What does this have to do with what we do or what our clients need?
Keep reading; you’ll see.

and then i’ll share it with my friends
10
39

Peer advocates. Ahh, the holy grail of advertising. The critical mass attained when
generated content infuses with user feedback to create a loyal audience that not
only likes what you’re selling, but buys what you’re touting. And then sells it for
you. This is our perfect world. Our utopia. But it won’t be easy to get there.
In fact, it could be quite painful.
Looks Can Kill
You see, while content sharing is a great scenario for advertising, it’s not so good
for television shows, filmmakers, and musicians. And without these talented
groups getting their coin, we won’t get ours. We’ve already seen seismic shifts in

traditional advertising revenue streams. From TV shows being offered online for
free, to YouTube videos drawing more viewers than nationally broadcast shows,
the road to content sharing is no longer us telling consumers what to buy. It’s
consumers dictating what, when, and how they’ll choose.
Conversely Speaking
There’s a word for this. It’s dialogue. Some have called it Web 2.0. But
what many have failed to see is the pain required to make it a true two-way
conversation. A real dialogue isn’t marketing speak and advertising messages.
It’s real conversation. Honest conversation. And as we all know, sometimes the
truth hurts.
you might feel a pinch.
41

Look at Microsoft. After years of trying to prevent in-house critiques from going
public, while also trying to mitigate outside comments from causing too much
damage, they completely reversed course. Through their Channel 9 Network,
which is openly accessible, they’ve made it easy for employees, developers,
and consumers to engage in a dialogue that ultimately improves the Microsoft
experience. So instead of being seen as a soulless mega-corporation, Microsoft
has, in fact, become more humanized, and better equipped to overcome any
missteps. XP anyone?
Look, No Makeup!
Being honest in what we say and do has many benefits. So let’s admit to our
mistakes, our missteps, and even our secrets (to a point, of course). Because
when we do, our messages stop being perceived as coming from marketing
and advertising agencies. They start to become a dialogue originating from
someone consumers trust. Someone who admits their failings but also shows
their strengths. Someone who becomes less of a product and more of a brand.
A human. A person. A peer. Maybe even a friend.

But Don’t You Dare Tell a Soul You Know Me!
11

Here’s where it gets complicated (you knew it would). While friends share
graciously, because… well, they’re friends, the interactive “friendships” you
build with selfish consumers are not to be shared… with… anyone.
No email address lists. No unwanted communications. No nothing, except for
what your consumers ask for. There is no quicker way to destroy all you’re
working toward than to have the selfish consumer believe that you have violated
their trust (which is the riddle’s answer, by the way)—as fragile as it may be—in
any way, shape, or form.
Riddle Me This
I can be held, but I can’t be touched.
I can be shared, but I can’t be divided.
I can cost plenty, but I can’t be bought.
What am I?
45

Shh, We’re Talking!
Privacy is becoming the hot-button issue with the
selfish consumer. As more and more companies
and agencies try to open modes of dialogue,
issues of privacy will come to a head. Don’t be
surprised when consumers start taking privacy
issues into their own hands through maverick
blogs and applications that thumb their nose at
your system. They already have. They always
will. So let it be.
Even as they start rejecting our precious data-
collecting cookies (without even knowing what
cookies really are), we need to accept this
consumer-generated awareness, and even
encourage it. Privacy has effectively become a
form of currency.

Keep It Clean
There are already consumer-level VPNs that can
make P2P networks virtually undetectable. And
that’s just the beginning. An example is WASTE,
an anonymous Internet communication system
that defends against traffic analysis and protects
consumers from giving away all of their online
information to website profilers.
If you can offer content and give selfish
consumers what they want without any trust
violations, you’re golden. But if you slip up, or
even if they perceive a transgression and it wasn’t
you, you’re still burnt. It’s a tough place to inhabit,
sure. But what else are you going to do—build
bridges? Oh wait… bad example.
47

So here we are. The third act. The time when problems get solutions. When heroes
find hidden strength. When sequels get green-lit.
When incomplete sentences become statements of fact.
It’s time for the big solution. But first, you’ve got to have the overly verbose question:
If the new digital age has spawned this new “selfish” consumer, who has countless
demands and fickle loyalties, how can marketers, i.e., you, position their agency to
catch this marketing headwind?
this blows.
51

The antidote to selfish consumers is within your reach, along with the spoils
that come with it.
To borrow from the book Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested
Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by authors W. Chan Kim
and Renée Mauborgne, the solution is a virtual blue ocean—there’s open
water, plenty of fish, and lots of depth. Sure there’s competition, but it’s years
from being saturated, and hardly anyone has mastered it.
What is this magical solution? This secret formula? This panacea?
Here’s a hint: It sounds like a solution….
53

Applications?
Are we being serious?
Yes, applications. Because as far as marketing and advertising are concerned,
applications are a virtually untapped resource—even better, they’re renewable.
Some advertisers would say that their client’s product or service is not ready,
willing, and applicable. We humbly disagree.
Actually, we vehemently disagree.
As we detailed earlier, content distribution up to now has been very linear.
Be it editorial, entertainment, or even experiential, new content has reached
consumers on flat, even ground that couldn’t shake loose of its traditional roots.
However, applications allow marketers to change the rules. As consumers
generate content, from Web mail to YouTube, to Facebook to whatever Web
2.0 site pops up next, an infinite number of nonlinear Web communication
portals open up.

And it is within these portals that applications can make a mark.
Ready. Get set. Go!
them
everyone
someone youDialogue
YOUR NEW WORLD IS
DEFINITELY NOT FLAT.
57

When we talk about application marketing (also known as the über-cool
acronym AM), what exactly do we mean?
I AM what I AM.
application marketing a-plə-ka-shən mar-ket-ing n 1 : the
integration of a functional program with a tangible purpose,
seamlessly integrated with an advertiser’s product or service,
that builds upon the opportunity by providing customized
responses based on the consumer’s input gathered from the
original program. abbr : AM also : marketing that actually
benefits the consumer.
59

Think about it. Instead of being a marketing Trojan horse that unleashes a
torrent of marketing mayhem, AM actually feeds upon the selfish consumer’s
demands by providing adaptive, customized content that reflects the
consumer’s daily needs.
AM could have many different forms. It could be a game shaped around a
brand identity. Or an algorithm that responds to email keywords. Or a picture-
recognition system that spots a need. Want a real-world idea? How about this:
Why doesn’t FedEx®
provide email? There you go. Run with it. The next idea
will be billable.

Just like any emerging opportunity, AM has evolved and is still evolving.
Here are a few brief examples:
Start Making Choices™
Consumers get free content, free advice,
and free guidance, including e-diets,
e-exercises, e-etc. What do they give
in return? The foundation for one of the
most valuable databases on the planet.*
* Toot. You hear that? That’s our horn.

NIKEiD
Some would call it a portal into personalized shoe
creation. Others would call it customized marketing.
You know what we call it.
GE’s ImaginationCubed
How does an innovatively collaborative whiteboard
enable GE to enter the realm of AM? The combination
of free content and an instant benefit paves the way
to priceless branding that no 30-second spot could
achieve. Go ahead and try it (imaginationcubed.com).
See what you think of the GE brand afterward.
63

As the evolving samples showed, the beauty of application marketing is that if
it’s done well, or even just OK, it will find a place within consumers’ lives. And
eventually, their wallets.
Every 24 hours, consumers are bombarded with an average of more than
10,000 advertising messages. From all of those messages, they’ll recall about
six of them. That’s a pretty thick shell, low odds, and a lot of ass-kissing. No
wonder they’re selfish!
Even worse, that’s just today. Think about a few years from now when it’s
15,000 or even 20,000 messages a day. Then what?
65

I’m sorry; did you say something?

Flip to the App….
Now think about application marketing. Instead of using the saturation hammer,
you’ll be able to use the consumer’s own needs as the tip of the spear. Which
do you think will be more effective? We know what you’re about to ask,
because we’re cut from the same cloth. As a savvy marketer, you probably
have savvy questions like:
Can you really consider applications a form of marketing content?
Abso-frickin-lutely. Whether it’s online email, picture sharing, shoe building, or
you name it, when you provide (or are wonderfully integrated within) a desirable
application, advertising and marketing transform from a shotgun blast to a
smart bomb.

As we mentioned in Chapter 7, advertising (until
recently) has been considered a creative interruption
to real creative content. With the overabundance of
daily advertising messages fighting for consumer real
estate, AM is able to reposition products and services
so that they speak with a relevance that coincides with
consumers’ needs at the exact time they need them.
Would you rather take your chances being six out of
10,000, or being one of what your target is looking for?
69

In May 2006, email properties accounted
for 49% of online ad impressions.
What do you do if (and when) the application becomes outdated?
You evolve. AM will move quickly and be far more nimble than traditional media.
This will have its drawbacks—the recycling bin of irrelevant applications will
forever be half full. But as one application falls away, another will rise to take its
place. So you better have the right creative minds in your corner, because if you
are at the forefront of this ascension, the opportunities will only grow.

The selfish consumer wants anonymity; isn’t this violating that need?
Not if they want the application. Selfish consumers are wonderfully human,
which means they are wonderfully hypocritical. Their need states, or more aptly,
their want states, trump all rational sensibilities. And if they want what you’re
pimping, they will gladly allow for some marketing intrusion.
As we all get more mobile… as attention spans continue to shrink… as digital
continues to grow… AM is going to become the most effective way to actively
persuade consumers, market more effectively, and grow your business. And to
address the point of this book, it provides the perfect recipe to counter the rise
of the selfish consumer.
71

There you have it. You have selfish consumers and what you can do about
them. But you still don’t look completely convinced.
So let’s put our postulate to the test.
Let’s hold application marketing up to the selfish consumer mantra and see
what happens.
73

What I want.
So you want applications that do your bidding? OK, here you go.
When I want it.
Any time you want it, it’s yours. Here. Take it.
Where I want!
With the exception of that stretch of road in Death Valley, no problem.
In the forms I want.
Laptop? Desktop? Phone? Video games? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
With no interruptions.
Hey, this is your life. Do as you wish. When you’ve got an itch, scratch it.
As much or as little!
You won’t even know we’re there, because when you do, you’ll be
looking for us.

Filtered by my peers (and backed by expert opinion).
The definition of effective AM is a central application that captures the interest
of thousands or even millions of repeat users. That would involve quite a bit of
peer filtering, don’t you think?
And then I’ll share it with my friends.
Remember that one happy customer? Multiply that by 100. Daily.
But don’t you dare tell a soul you know me!
If you give them what they want, they won’t care what you take. For instance,
Google is gathering more information on more people than almost any other
company in the world. Yet the public perception is that Google can do no evil.
Now, how could you duplicate that feat?
75

So there you have it.
You have selfish consumers, what they stand for, and what we propose you
can do about them. Our solution isn’t necessarily for everyone. But if the Web
is part of your upcoming marketing plan, it would be a good idea to see how
applications could play a role.
The benefits of application marketing are wonderfully attractive. And sure, it’s
not all roses and champagne. There are potential pitfalls, along with inevitable
pratfalls, that will be hard to forecast. But as technology evolves and paths
open and close up, it will take a distinct selfish mindset to keep pace and move
ahead. Odds are, by the time you read this, there will already be newer and
better AM examples of selfish consumer marketing than the ones we cited. The
more pertinent question is: Will you be one of them?
77

Some books virtually write themselves. This one did not. If you like
the thinking behind this book, talk to these guys:
Michael Wilson, Chief Technology Officer at Bridge Worldwide, maps out the
technology path for the agency. He is a self-professed digital freak, whose
life forever changed when he first plugged in his Odyssey2
. What’s
an Odyssey2
? Exactly.
Bob Gilbreath, Chief Marketing Strategist at Bridge Worldwide, has more than
12 years of experience in brand management, client service, and financial
consulting leadership. Basically, if you want thinking that is well thought-out,
Bob is your man.
We’d also like to raise our figurative glass to:
Jed Golden, Brad Geiger, Carole Amend, Shannon Lanner, Michael
Stich, Jeff Haun, Essa Anderle, the Internet, and, of course, all of our
coworkers at Bridge Worldwide.
79

The Selfish Digital Consumer

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (19)

En vedette

En vedette (18)

Similaire à The Selfish Digital Consumer

Similaire à The Selfish Digital Consumer (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

The Selfish Digital Consumer