A special note to the small-to midsize ad agencies: This post has helpful intel that will relate to your clients but I want to stress, keep in mind, that this information relates just as well to your agency. This is a prime time for agency new business. According to Forrester consumers now spend nearly as much time online as they do watching TV. Just think of the possibilities of reaching your best prospective clients online.
Razorfish “Digital Brand Experience Survey” shows that even though consumers are more empowered than ever before, they still desire a relationship with a brand, and a brand has a major say in that relationship. It’s just that brands need to shift their thinking from one-way advertising to two-way consumer experiences if they want to take advantage of the attributes of the digital world.
I’m grateful to my good friend David Deal who passed on this Razorfish research and his key takeaways:
- Consumers are not shutting out brands – they’re interacting with them. 77% of consumers surveyed have watched a commercial or video advertisement on YouTube with some frequency; 69% have provided feedback to a brand, either through a website or a third-party service like GetSatisfaction.com; 65% have played a branded browser-based game. Moreover, 70% have participated in a brand-sponsored contest or sweepstakes.
- Digital experiences create customers. The overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand in digital fashion are much more inclined to purchase products and recommend the brand to others.
- Digital can make or break a brand. 65% of consumers say that a digital experience, either positive or negative, changed their opinion of a brand. Of those, 97% said that their experience influenced whether they eventually purchased from the brand.
- This is the year of the brand fan. According to this study, 40% of consumers have friended a Facebook brand page, and 26 % have followed a brand on Twitter.
Click Here for a PDF version of the report
I think that the fact that Razorfish needs to serve up what seems like such basic information (“Digital experiences create customers”) speaks to how many brands (and their traditionally-inclined agencies) are still well behind the digital curve