Creating awareness: how do you meet the communication challenge of the century?

Communication World, April-May, 2003 by Claire Watson

It first glance, Spiderman, Gumby and Pokey, and more than 100 milk-mustache-wearing celebrities have nothing in common. But a closer look reveals that the superhero, claymation duo and famous personalities are central to successful awareness programs, one created by AGF Mutual Funds and the other by California milk processors.

Creating awareness is an important first step toward building audience understanding, influencing opinion and motivating behaviour. But there's a lot more than meets the eye to executing a successful awareness campaign and a lot more to it than enlisting the help of recognizable faces. Commanding audience attention is not as easy as it might appear.

MYRIAD MESSAGES

Over-communication is a way of life. Information bombards the senses from every conceivable source, every waking moment of the day. Communication channels have mushroomed. Not only are there more choices within mediums, but also more mediums to choose from.

At the end of 2002, global use of the Internet was pegged at more than 600 million people--a number that increases every day. At 500,000 words, it would take the average person 28 hours to read a Sunday edition of The New York limes. An 8-ounce container of cereal carries about 1,500 words of copy, and General Motors spends US$365,000 a day to promote Chevrolet in the U.S. market. A 30-second commercial on the popular sitcom 'Friends" costs an average of US$455,700, followed closely by "ER" and "Survivor." But if any old prime time slot will do, the average cost for 30 seconds of airtime is US$115,799.

And that's just the external environment. The internal environment is no less inundated. The competition for share of mind has never been greater. Yet the channels are congested and only a tiny fraction of messages actually get through. Make no mistake, the human mind is capable of holding only so much information.

ATTENTION-GETTING TACTICS

Communicators are face to face with an important challenge: In an information-overloaded society, how do you command attention in a way that creates and anchors awareness? Much of the advertising industry's success has been guided by these seven principles.

1. Without research, you're only guessing. Alice's Cheshire cat said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will do." The success or failure of awareness campaigns depends on the skill of the strategist to clearly understand the audience-who they are, what they think and how to influence their perceptions. Brand gurus call this "finding a window into the mind."

Enter audience research, Although there is much controversy about the validity of research and different methods, so far no one has come up with a better idea. How do you know what the audience thinks? You ask. How do you know what will influence choice? You study. How do you know whether the message is meaningful and memorable? You test.

2. Answer the question "What's in it for me?" Competing for audience attention is not for the faint of heart. People come in all shapes and sizes, with pre-conceived ideas and opinions that influence your ability to deliver a message.

The human mind operates like a computer, with one important difference: A computer accepts whatever you key into it. The mind does not. The human mind rejects information that doesn't match prior knowledge or experience. The easiest way to create awareness is to build on something that is already familiar. Make it relevant. Make it real. Make it personal. Effective communication answers "What's in it for me?" or "Why should I care?"

3. People respond to emotion. Forget the logic. Find the emotional hot buttons. Make the audience feel something.

Logic-based communication presents the facts but does not engage the audience. Ideas that create an emotional experience build a personal connection with each individual. Awareness is more easily gained if you can touch the audience with a memory. Effective communication first speaks to the heart. The head and hands will follow.

4. Keep the creative focus on strategy. Develop a creative brief to keep you focused. A creative brief links the strategy to the creative execution of the messages. It is here that all the analytical thinking is transformed into razor-sharp direction that becomes a foundation for the creative idea that will drive the message home.

Completing a creative brief is easy, providing you've done your homework:

* Why are you communicating?

* What is the strategy trying to achieve?

* Who are you talking to?

* What do you know about them?

* What do they think?

* What do you want them to think?

5. Less is more. Keep the idea simple and the execution free of clutter and verbosity. The reading vocabulary of the average person is about 8,000 words. The speaking vocabulary is less. Add limited time and competing agendas to the mix and there is no doubt that only the strong survive. Cutting through the clutter depends heavily on the writer's ability to serve up a sharply focused message that gets right to the point.

6. Align the media with the audience. Use a rifle, not a shotgun. With all the noise in the environment, getting the right message to the right audience has never been as challenging. The strategy? Be selective in the choice of media vehicles and channels.