Last Wednesday I went to the Moscone Center, in order to visit the AdTech exhibition.
By showing my student ID, I was able to get my free ticket only for the exhibition hall, which did not include the third floor, where the keynotes, and the cool conferences were happening. After a brief tour in the exhibition hall I decided that I couldn’t miss the chance. And so I went to the third floor and sneaked in a room where the talk I was interested in, was about to start. I also got to see the last minutes of the previous one and another full one. So 2 free awesome talks was the jackpot, and I felt very satisfied.
Especially during Paul Pangaro’s “Designing for conversation” workshop.
Paul is the CTO at CyberneticLifestyles.com and despite his not-so-young age, his words were fresh as a frozen glass of coke with ice and lemon.
First of all, I liked the fact the he decided (contrary to all the other speakers) to present walking around, among us, instead of sitting on the stage behind a table and a laptop. He wanted to engage us in a conversation about conversations and he had us all, already.
Paul started with a question: what’s all this about “conversational marketing”?
Paul is the CTO at CyberneticLifestyles.com and despite his not-so-young age, his words were fresh as a frozen glass of coke with ice and lemon.
First of all, I liked the fact the he decided (contrary to all the other speakers) to present walking around, among us, instead of sitting on the stage behind a table and a laptop. He wanted to engage us in a conversation about conversations and he had us all, already.
Paul started with a question: what’s all this about “conversational marketing”?
He then asked how to design for conversation and explained that the cybernetics of conversation is not a science that translates robot languages or alike, instead is the Art of Steering.
And why should we apply cybernetics to design conversations?
- it’s the science of “getting what you want”
- it helps understand, navigate, and regulate complex systems.
- it encompasses human, social, and technical components.
- it includes a branch called “conversation theory”.
But what is conversation?
- it helps understand, navigate, and regulate complex systems.
- it encompasses human, social, and technical components.
- it includes a branch called “conversation theory”.
But what is conversation?
[copy, donwload, enlarge, print, hang, share, send, learn, re-draw, ..., this diagram]
The next slide was a timeline showing the relationship between marketing era and media era, and the focus on the before-and-after the conversational media (basically before and after Digital) and what are the differences between the two.
A conversation happens when two participants interact.
A participant has a goal.
Chooses a context.
Chooses a language.
Begins an exchange.
Evokes a reaction…
…that evokes a reaction.
Agreement may be reached.
A transaction may occur.
So why is conversation important?
- brands want consumers to buy
- consumers need to believe that buying will get them what they want
- convincing consumers to buy = influencing what consumers believe
- conversation is the most effective means to influence beliefs
These fundamentals do not change - even as technology and marketing evolves.
The next slide was a timeline showing the relationship between marketing era and media era, and the focus on the before-and-after the conversational media (basically before and after Digital) and what are the differences between the two.
Focus on:
I. Context: the right moment to open an exchange; digital media has created an explosion of contexts (email, search engine results, banners, mobile, traditional media that are “going digital”).
II. Shared Language: speak in customer terms; tune into consumer need-states, wants, and desires; create a “language system” that begins to build a connection:
Chompensation, and the beautiful Dentyne campaign “Make Face Time”. The ads show happy people embracing and kissing as an alternative to their Facebook and their BlackBerrys, using, however, that language, the Shared Language of social media and its users.
III. Exchange: 2-way co-evolution of ideas → should be what we mean by “interactive”; must involve listening, offering, questioning; must offer some value to keep engagement going; may be broken off at any time (by either participant); consumer learns what is possible and marketer learns what consumers think, feel, and want.
Examples: Dove’s tick “Wrinkled/Wonderful”, where people can actually send a message, choose the answer, and the results are live-updated at the bottom of the billboard. Or Apple’s Genius Bar (“Come to shop. Return to learn.”)
IV. Agreement: shared understanding leads to a common history creation, trust is built and beliefs are validated or changed.
V. Actions or Transactions: stay connected, continue the conversation; participate in communities, social networks, real world f2f [face-to-face], demonstrate commitment.
"Conversation is the infrastructure of commerce."
Therefore, we’re in a situation where the model of Customer Relationship Management is evolving into
Summary:
- conversation will always occur – you better be great at it.
- changes in technology force us to evolve.
- all successful evolution is co-evolution - each participant must change in response to the other.
- conversation is the most efficient means to co-evolution.
Design for conversation = Viability today and tomorrow.
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