A little less conversation... A little more action

You've read it before, probably blogged about it too. These days, it's all about the conversation isn't it? Everywhere we turn our head, somebody out there seems to be preaching that brands need to open up conversation in order to understand, improve and connect with their audience. There is this idea that in every boardroom, there is this 1 man, tight lipped, arms akimbo refusing to talk.

Dont' get me wrong, brand to audience conversation makes sense to me except i can't help but think it's been taken a little too far off the rails . Let me explain, in a perfect marketing world, we would love to think that brands have our interests at heart and therefore the conversation is genuine. But, how can it be deemed a genuine conversation if the bottomline agenda from brands is " I need to know how to sell more of my stuff, talk to me so i know how to strategise better." When did conversation become consultancy?

You see companies "embracing" social media and suddenly, every consumer ( guilty as charged) starts clapping our hands and nodding our heads. This is hilarious, note: If the product has a problem, fix it. Don't wait for me to complain about it. Fix it. If you want to advertise, advertise. Don't name drop in my ear and expect me to play chinese whispers for you.

Yes Dell was hugely successful in utilizing conversation to push sales, but let's put the product in context. We are talking about a neccesity in today's world. When a product leader in a neccesity market asks the bottomline question (see above), it's not a hoax anymore. We want to buy laptops, we want to get a good Dell product. We need this therefore it's in our interests to contribute to the product development. How many brands/products fall under this category? Do we need to talk with Pepsi?

When we question why big brands still refuse to engage in the conversation, the answer generally rumbles along the lines of inertia or fear. I propose that it's way, way more simple. In my opinion, they have nothing to say.

And honestly, that is fine, look at Skittles. They had nothing to say, so they opened up the front door and let the whole world sit on their front porch shouting obscenities for them. Conversation yes. To what point?

I suggest having nothing much to add to the conversation is fine. Creating drivel to create the conversation smacks of desperation. Much like the nervous first date who mentally notes down carefully pre planned conversation topics only to find his palms getting sweatier with each passing mouthful.

In these instances where the conversation is not required, then more action is. Don't talk, do something. Engage in a social media push campaign. Rainbow colored candy? Sponsor and raise funds for the rainbow foundation. How about nice colorful widgets that help diabetics track their sugar intake?

My point here is that, conversations aren't magical wands that will somehow unclog the sales funnel. In most cases, there really isn't any content in these conversations. Yes, it's still relevant and i am an advocate of permission based marketing but the who where how and why still needs to be answered when a brand decides to jump on the conversation bandwagon. And if you realise that you don't have anything much to say in any open channel to no one in particular, then perhaps it's best to stop thinking about talking and start acting on those thoughts.


Song of the blog by Elvis