Today, we have a video blog post from an old friend of mine, Aaron Goldman, sharing one of the “Googley Lessons” from his new book. Lesson #5: Be Where Your Audience Is…
I hearken back to when Aaron was an intern for me at a traditional media agency. If I had known he could rap like that, well, he still would have been an intern.
But get past the terrible rhythm and sideways visor and listen to the message. Great experiences happen anywhere and in order for brands to enable consumer interaction those experiences have to be easy to find. Isn’t that the most important lesson Google teaches? If the greatest piece of content in the world is never seen or shared, is it still the greatest piece of content in the world? Google built a model that ensures it can be found. A model, by the way, that means they are the gateway to the Internet regardless of how people enter. As such, they are friend to brand and consumer alike as they match content with consumer.
I think the best thing about Aaron’s book is how well he has constructed an in depth yet simple view of how digital marketing has evolved based in large part on Google as the foundation. With the web as hub, marketers have to fill in the spokes, exactly as Aaron white boards. Channel selection has never been more important than it is right now. Brands can’t simply produce tv spots and build websites and call themselves multi-channel. They must recognize that with the consumer in control, insights on their behavior are more important than ever. Without knowing where and when the customer will want to engage, brands are grasping at straws and risk minimal ROI.
Its a good thing we have the rapping author to help us.
Scott is the SVP, Experience Distribution on our global Executive Team. He’s located in our Chicago office.
