“Please, do not reply”
This is the ending of a newsletter I found in my inbox this morning; its final regard. It is a newsletter that, by the way, I didn’t ask to receive, and whose sender is “do-not-reply@a-brand.com”. Despite the intrusion, I agreed to read the communication. Then, I realized it was just a monologue.
We frequently face communication pieces that try to make us pay attention even when we have no interest:
digital banners that break in while we navigate the internet;
loud videos that start playing when we roll over them by accident;
mails that get in our inbox without permission;
text messages that wake us up in the middle of the night;
phone polls and sales promotions that interrupt our rest;
products and services we paid for while we didn’t want to buy them in the first place…
It is a long list.
Is this an invitation?
Every time a brand delivers a message, we are invited to be connected. Even when its aim is merely commercial, its approach will have an impact on us. We won’t be indifferent. Nevertheless, considering the way these messages reach us, they are quite far from being a real invitation.
Interruptions, sudden starts, minimal intrusions… I wonder how effective these persuasion strategies are. Or should I say imposition strategies? Are all those clicks on our digital banners really valuable for our brand? Will these clients come back to us? Won’t we need to resort to these strategies again the next time we want to attract our audience, and the next one? What about those who didn’t fall into the trap and now just dislike us because we made them draw their attention to our message? We gave priority to short-term benefits (immediate commercial targets) and we forgot the most important sake: the truly connection with our brand. Isn’t this price too high? Are there any other ways to accomplish our short-term goals? What if we do it differently?
While some brands are already changing their course, many others seem to be stuck.
“Many companies copy others because they are unable to innovate”
This is a real invitation
Even the slightest expression of a brand can be designed (and it should be designed) but companies are not always conscious about it. Depending on the object of the communication, someone will make some decisions: which words will shape the message, where we will find it, how long it will last, what it will look like… Leaving all these matters to chance is also an act of design (but quite a bit less responsible).
I am writing these words as an invitation for all those brands that expect to reach us and still can’t figure out new ways of doing it. I suggest doing it in a more human way.
I invite them to ask for permission;
to ask if we are ready to listen;
to talk gently,
to be clear,
to apologize,
to listen to us,
There must be other ways of achieving those commercial targets. They may not be so immediate. They may take some more energy and work. They may find some resistance at the beginning. It may be hard, but it certainly is a challenge that all of us, who work with brands every single day, are willing to face.
I am a Designer and Consultant, passionate about design, brands, communication… and how they affect our daily life. I am convinced that taking a critical approach to what we do, encourages us to do things better.
