The West, he says, has been singularly fixated on the content of the message, ignoring the media forms. Those, he argues - the way that people consume media - have to become the new focus. Presenting some findings of research conducted on simultaneous media consumption Chinese consumers involving 31 different forms of media, he finds that Chinese - just like their American counterparts - create foreground and background media: They’re either surfing the Web (background) while watching TV (fore), or watching TV (background) while surfing the Web (fore).
Definitions of what constitutes an ‘audience’ become very problematic; the impact of conflicting messages delivered at the same moment in time is difficult to assess. “Simultaneous multimedia usage suggests all traditional media audiences are overstated, and likely overpriced,” says Schultz. “Traditional marketing measurement systems just aren‚t up to the task.”
So what should Chinese marketers do differently? He suggests the following:
1. Focus on media consumption, not on media distribution‚
2. Learn how consumers use media, not how marketers use it
3. Recognize that different media forms are critical elements in consumer decision making, and that
4. Consumer time with media form is critical
Agencies can spend all the time they want focusing on content, and on creative, he says, “But remember: if no one sees it, it doesn’t matter.” Start with media forms, he suggests - not with messages.
He also laments that marketing people never really interface with the people who understand the customers best: The employees, the recommenders, the distributors, the distributors, the influencers, tech support people, bloggers and the like. We outsource our tech support to India.
It’s all about reciprocity, says Schultz: “What is the value of the customer to the brand, and what is the value of the brand to the customer. These are things we know little about. All our focus is on what we send out - not on what they take in.”
“I think there‚s still time to make the right decisions for the future,” he concludes. “That’s the purpose of this conference, so I suggest you get on with it.”
Kaiser Kuo
Group director, digital strategy, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, China
