experience matters

Progressive marketers are far beyond the point of realizing their foothold in the space of consumer communication is slipping. Every day, the role of creating, distributing, and learning falls more under the control of the consumer, which also means the tools for which they choose to take these actions are being created to cater to them, and not to us (marketers). Because of this reality, the task that marketers are now facing is finding the root of consumer behavior. A task which is very necessary in order to be able to reintegrate themselves into forums which not only were they not intended to be in, but in many cases, purposely pushed out of.

“Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. It often involves taking apart and analyzing its workings in detail to be used in maintenance or to try to make a new device or program that does the same thing without copying anything from the original. (Wikipedia)”

In other words, when an engineer is asked to dissect a new technology in order to rebuild it (without any instructions) they are doing so because the end goal is to be able to recreate a product or experience that they were not originally intended to be a part of.

Applying this to the current digital landscape, we are seeing the same needs from marketers. Most of those tools were never built with the role of the advertiser in mind and this presents a great challenge to that group. How does a brand balance the original function of a communication tool while trying to become an active member of it? This is where the concept of “reverse engineering” can come into play.

Dissect a group of people’s core need for participating in a certain experience (digital or otherwise) and you’ll have a clearer understanding of (and yes, sometimes IF) you can become a part of it.

Looking at YouTube as an example:

1) Consumer Need: The ability to share themselves with potentially millions of others through site and sound.

2) Consumer Behavior: Millions of people are uploading their thoughts, talents, and parodies onto a video sharing network. Even more millions of people are watching those videos (the majority of which are user generated, not professional).

3) Why is this behavior occurring?: YouTube made video distribution easier (on a mass scale) than ever before. It didn’t require hosting a server or website, or being isolated to sending your large files across flaky channels. From a content consumer perspective, YouTube and sites like it offer the depth and variety that professional producers simply cannot match. The quality (for now) of the content is obviously not comparable but consumers are willing to look past it because the content is original, very controllable, and often more personal.

4) Augment Behavior to include Brand: In the case of YouTube, countless brands have tried to leverage this video distribution tool to spread their own content to millions. To have it go “viral.” But perhaps the best use of this network was not for a brand to spread its own content, but help consumers share their own. After all, the initial consumer need identified above was the desire for consumers to share themselves with the masses. Wouldn’t it make more sense to empower them in continuing this behavior rather than competing against them? If successful, this takes the process full circle and makes the brand-infused behavior become part of the original consumer need.

What is a success? When a brand can improve or change a consumer’s behavior so it still satisfies their initial needs. What is a MAJOR success? When a brand can radically change consumer behavior in a way that makes it virtually inseparable from the consumer’s perceived need.

Fans of Apple don’t buy new versions of iPods/iPhones because the device they currently own is no longer capable of playing music. Apple revised the need so that people associated their desire for portable music with the need for the experience to be easy, integrated, and most importantly for Apple, very reliant on their brand.

The above example, while something most brands will never be able to equally replicate, is something that shows how the concept of reverse engineering behaviors can help them strengthen the relationship between themselves and their consumers who are spending more time in a place that brands don’t yet fit into. Successfully being able to enhance a consumer’s experience turns the people you’re advertising to, into people advertising for you. And when a brand can best disassemble why consumers are engaging in a certain type of behavior from an emotional, educational, social level, they will also be equipped to build the insights needed to compliment those experiences and strengthen the bond between brand and consumers as they reconfigure the experience to include themselves.

Last 5 posts by Len Kendall

• Unintentional Advertising – April 22nd, 2009
• Promote Yourselves. Promote Others. – April 13th, 2009
• Advertising vs Editorial: State Getting Bigger than the Church? – March 4th, 2009
• Big Content. Small Package – February 17th, 2009

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