Author: Damola Timeyin, Social Strategist BBH London

Every year arrives with a glut of predictions about which technologies will experience ‘hockey stick growth’, which will ‘jump the shark’ and how brands will exploit these ‘new frontiers’. We as marketers we are as guilty as anyone of creating more questions about how brands should approach the opportunities, than we provide coherent answers. The result is a mixed bag of bold attempts, questionable executions and the occasional triumph.

The cynic in every marketer will argue just because a brand can, doesn’t mean they should, it’s haloed consumer space after all. The pragmatist, may accept the new order of things, acknowledge the potential and recognize the shift in consumer attitudes towards brands in these spaces.

Whether a cynic or pragmatist, before making the leap, a commitment should be made to apply better judgement when deciding where and how to proceed. Not just for the sake of the brand, but for the sake of the consumer on the receiving end of our communications.

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Consumers are more likely to embrace brands who bring something complimentary to the party, whether that’s content or an experience, delivered in a way that reflects the consumer’s behaviour on that platform.

Platforms themselves are making it easier for brands to add value, Snapchat being a recent example of a platform that quickly embraced branded content and experiences, by building a non intrusive means for brands to communicate with users, through “Snapchat Discover”.

Whilst there’s an app for everything, there isn’t yet an emoji for every feeling. So recently Mentos made an appearance in messaging platforms by creating branded emoticons, which helped people to express these feelings in conversations in this space. Not only did these ‘Ementicons’ meet a need in a way that was in keeping with platform norms, it helped the brand to communicate with an audience on a platform where it’s difficult to cut through.

BBH’s latest campaign for Clarks’, ‘From Rats To Rudeboys: The story of the Clarks Desert Boot’ is an example of an idea with cultural relevance with a clear purpose; to re-establish the connection between the brand and an iconic shoe.

The cynic in us may see the campaign’s use of WhatsApp*, as an opportunistic choice, borne from the desire to connect with ‘millennials’ rather than the best way to deliver documentary content.

However the pragmatist considers the core of the idea; cultural stories from the past told from first person perspective today. Assess its components; stories told in film, audio, copy, photo and music formats over a fixed period. And crucially evaluates the audience behaviour, young individuals predominantly consume information about culturally significant events from peers and trusted news sources via mobile platforms.

Taking these factors into account, the experience of receiving a narrative of real life events, by the people who were there, would be diminished if there was no sense of immediacy. The user journey would be fragmented if content for a single narrative was distributed through multiple channels. The opportunity to personalise the experience lost, if there was no means to communicate directly with thousands at once. Using a platform a platform like WhatsApp, allows the brand to create immediacy, deliver a seamless and direct user experience, with mass personalisation that no other platform could facilitate.

What platform is right for what brand? As with most questions, the answer is of course, it depends. In this case it depends on the what the brand wants to do.

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*To experience the final instalment of the ‘From Rats to Rudeboys’ experience, WhatsApp Jamaican Dj and Clarks Desert Boot trader, Major Stitch, on 07481495645 to hear his story.