A Call to Action
My great thanks to Pat for bringing this video to my attention. I’ld like to share it with you as it's an amazing tour-de-force crafted to mobilize the Obama vote on election day. I think marketers can learn much from it.
Have a look...
Is it any wonder the 2008 US presidential campaign will be studied for years?
In case you weren't counting, there were 12 spots totaling 47 seconds out of this 97 second video devoted to delivering a 'personalized' message based on the input of three pieces of information, my first/last name and my email address. For anyone still sitting on the fence about the power of social media...
It showcases a highly sophisticated level of on-the-fly personalization that just a few years ago we were touting as major capability enhancements in the lettershop and email trades. I wonder how many months before we have the capability to stitch together a complete narrative (opening #1, Paragraph #3, offer #5, call to action #2, closing #8) tuned to what the CRM profiles or BT algorithms indicate our customers are most receptive to seeing/hearing - the birth of video messaging beyond the mass messaging video banner ads. But that's a discussion for another day.
What REALLY excites me about this video is its powerful “Your choice makes a difference" message.
That call to action got me to thinking of what success might be had if we applied a similar personal video tactic directed to brand purchases and major retail events. For example:
Christmas: Because you shopped at HBC(Sears), the cherished Christmas morning family moment will be perfect.
Valentine’s Day: Women around the world rally in protest against the 'inadequacy', some even call it a mockery of the Valentine's day gift from their significant other.
RRSP season: This is what your retirement life may look like if you plan today.
Obviously I'm not a copy writer - but I hope you get the point I’m trying to make. We are so busy promoting the price point and the "buy now" call to action, that we forget to communicate the impact of our customer’s decision to buy or not buy the brand in concrete "Visualize the End Result or Benefit"
(VERB) ways.
Taking this up a couple of notches, we can infuse an even stronger call to action by linking brand purchase events with trickle down community benefits, in what I call “Share of Life” marketing. Perhaps it’s a perception bias, but I truly think with the interconnectedness brought about by social media and the economic fallout from “Wall Street” onto “Main Street” - that consumers are looking for more community leadership from our brands.
Whichever path you choose, I hope you appreciate the power this personalized video/call to action approach can have in adding relevancy to brand purchase events ....and if you decide against it at least you've gained a peek into the near future.
Cheers
Miro
