We have a puppy named Stella.
She works with me, and after having her for three months I am smitten, all in, and sometimes losing my mind!
I have a bag of tricks to keep us both happy but sometimes she gets annoyed and wants my full attention. And she has now literally found a way to “pop up” between me and my desk. She is like Houdini, and then she stares me down, all the while madly wagging her tail.
I started to laugh thinking she is the furry version of a pop up ad in a world that has been very interrupted!
I wonder how many brand messages we turn off or frantically X out of in a day, maybe 500?
We have so many ways to tell our stories, but interrupting isn’t the best way to do it. I mean really, who likes the interrupter who never lets you finish a thought? Do you picture your brand as the annoying person at the cocktail party (remember, we used to have those!) who, while you are in the midst of a fabulous conversation with someone else, butts in to control or change the dialogue? It is simply rude and annoying and the fastest way to get you off the invite list. The same holds true online.
The pop up is a poor way to start a relationship (unless you are as adorable as Stella), yet it is the core of so many campaigns. Realize that this is the old and out-dated model. The model of unrelenting frequency and reach, because we can, is still interruption-based marketing and not what drives a purpose brand.
Yes, by all means reach out to your beautiful community, reach out with empathy and reach from the very core of your values and purpose. Give them a meaningful experience.
Make the shift from a transactional relationship to a transformational experience and let me know what happens. Not sure what this might look like? Check out a video on Yeti’s storytelling website called “Shut Up and Paddle” on the Texas Water Safari. I bet you will watch the full 7 minutes and share it on. No one is screaming the Yeti brand except for a few well-done product placements. They sell very expensive coolers but what hooks us in is the inspiration and the desire to be part of the story, to join the community, the desire for us to feel transformed.
Ditch the pop up for real engagement (at the proper distance of course) that goes beyond transaction and then take your dog for a walk 🙂
