I had such a laugh reading this post at Software Only about how teens view Web 2.0- specifically how "they hate stupid 'shoot the monkey' ads...." One wonders why this would surprise anyone? A teenager who has access to even old-school video games in which you can only rip the head and spinal cord off an opponent (Sub-Zero rules!) will not stop what they are doing on the web to shoot at a monkey, no matter how annoying the simian in question may be. Let us not even speak of hot coffee.
It dawned on me after digesting that piece just how brilliantly playing video games has served as a training grounds for filtering out idiotic advertising. Think about it: if you spend countless hours of your time plotting and practicing to kill the Big Bad from any video game out there, you necessarily will have built up a massive resistance to minor distractions that threaten to keep you from reaching your goal. Apply this to our jobs as marketers, and we have presented ourselves with this real pickle- why would a teenager waste his or her time developing a skill, learning a move, or deciphering a code that has no noticeable benefit on getting to the end game? Blinking lights, loud noises and all the blood and guts in the world won't phase a fifteen-year-old who already knows what she needs to do to get to the next level of something. Either you send her a honest message that what you have to offer can save her six steps, or she will only too gladly pass you by and wait for the next opportunity or offering that can.
We have a challenge ahead of us to prove to these teenagers as they grow into very savvy 20-somethings and beyond that our products and services will actually serve some real purpose getting them to the next level. And it won't be accomplished magically, as this well-written Fast Company article points out, through a trip and hendy brand redesign:
A brand is a result, not a tactic. One cannot go about branding an organization or a product or a service; the organization, product, or service is what creates the brand. In a brilliant twist, the experts have bottled an end and sold it as a means.
Start thinking about how your killer app helps people really KILL something in their minds, and you'll have something. Otherwise, it risks being left behind as your customers assume a competing application down the road will do it better if they succeed in filtering out the noise for the time being.
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