Technology changes consumers' behaviours

Confidence plays a major role in consumer take-up of new technologies and greater familiarity leads to more usage and deeper involvement, as well as higher expectations. Vibrant communities across the globe are establishing themselves, from SMS users in the Philippines to cyber-coffee shops in Peru and in the not-too distant future China will have more people online than the US. Simplicity and desirability have become the watchwords in new product development and consumers are reacting with their wallets.

Although access and affordability remain barriers in the SA mass market environment, broadband connectivity is gradually becoming less expensive and cellphone communication has entrenched itself in most economically active local communities.

Want a degree of influence

With interactive technologies now being ingrained in many of our lives, our demands on what they can offer are escalating. Sharing, conversing and interacting with others are no longer enough; we also want a degree of influence. This trend will, as we saw in Germany pre the last world cup, accelerate aggressively as we approach 2010. Our low current base will make this “catch up” simply breathless!

Politicians and voters seem to be embracing the power of the Internet. Ségoléne Royal, the French Presidential challenger, relied on her website to relay her own video message immediately following Jacques Chirac's address to the nation; the US White House hopeful, Barack Obama, collected over 300 000 supporters within a few months on Facebook.com; and people flocked to the UK Government site to sign a petition against its road pricing plans - the campaign rapidly generated over a million signatures.

This consumer appetite for greater participation - contributing, editing and sharing content - is being driven partially by advances in technologies such as broadband and the arrival of innovative services like iTunes and Skype.

In a mature market such as the UK, the early stage of the World Wide Web was communication- and information-driven, encompassing email and searches in high interest areas. Then came more involvement with content such as downloading videos, sharing music and online gaming, and now there is a rapidly developing desire for participation and personalisation which is leading consumers to create and contribute their own content.

Different to five years ago

Today's digital consumer is very different to five years ago. They have a more intuitive approach, excising far greater control, receiving and digesting content on their own terms.

But consumers are also unpredictable and tracking their usage patterns and behaviour has never been straightforward. Although some ‘conversations' may well be initiated within the large portals, consumers are likely to take a multitude of different paths to pursue their interests. It can lead to a video download or a purchased concert ticket but it may also lead to niche sites, posting comments, uploading content or sharing digital assets with friends.

This type of behaviour is more pronounced amongst young people whose attitude and approach to digital channels are ingrained in their every day lives - the time they spend on the Internet and their mobile devices has become an extension of their regular dialogue, enhancing their relationships with friends.

The challenge for marketers trying to reach this market is keeping track of its multiplying and disparate touch points and capturing attention, which is primarily driven by social networking.

Beyond major events and big partnerships, it is harder for brands to successfully infiltrate consumers' online activities. As behaviour begins to converge across the different digital devices, the ability to measure the impact of a given touch point on another is especially desirable. For instance, the link between TV commercials and the subsequent online searches is well-known, but few have exploited it well. This year, most of the US Superbowl advertisers also bought search activity to complement their airtime.

Measurement becomes more complex

As consumer behaviour becomes more intricate, measurement will become more complex. To date, most of the focus has been on the final action, but it can be equally instructive to assess how each display and contact point contributes to that conversion. Developing robust measurement tools is paramount and Starcom in the US has built a solution called multiple attribution protocol (MAP) that monitors the influence of search and online display ads on the final user action.

Historically, advertisers focused on filling online spaces with banners and buttons, determining how many people responded through mouse clicks. In the new landscape it is critical to understand how consumers are really behaving, from considering the content they are viewing to facilitating their involvement with the contact and establishing their intentions and actions.

As consumers become more confident with new technologies and far more intuitive in their usage, marketers need to be smarter in identifying and making real connections that captivate and motivate response and engagement. Without this leap ahead by marketers the gap between what consumers are actually doing and what the commercial world thinks they want will only get wider.

Later this year within the Starcom network a global summit will take place in Germany to reviewing developments learnings and to predict what next and how best to evolve to meet these challenges.