Engagism and the "Push/Pull" Paradigm

Dr. Doolittle discovered a wonderful beast called the "push me, pull you" -- a two headed llama whose two ends (or heads) had to come to an agreement before moving anywhere. The push-me-pull-you concept has long been discussed in the context of "push" versus "pull" communications (i.e., communications that are pushed out to the target via snail mail, e-mail, static advertising or the like) and communications that compel the target to be pulled in (like sticky websites and even old-fashioned town meetings).

The Washington Post's recent article on this topic ("Advertising's New Idea: Don't Push the Product; Pull the Customer Instead") outlines how these ideas are being applied in the advertising venue. For years, advertisers had a pretty unsophisticated approach -- "we simply bludgeoned consumers into submission," according to Bob Isherwood, creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Now, however, those that are understanding the "brave new world" are starting by "analyzing how consumers live and get information and working backward to create messages most appropriate for those channels." Essentially, rather than bombarding them with advertisements, they are figuring out how to get consumers to choose to be advertised at! The approach might center around creating a video game, launching a youTube or MySpace campaign, or writing a catchy song that can be downloaded on to one of the nation's 18 gazillion MP3 players.

What is most striking about these new approaches is how they recognize the "engagist" attitude of consumers. As the article points out, "[t]hese days . . the power has shifted from marketer to consumer . . . consumers decide what information and entertainment they want. Rather than simply pushing messages on consumers, the trick is to get consumers to pull them." As Bob Greenberg, founder of R/GA one of New York's hottest interactive advertising agencies puts it "Traditional agencies are set up as factories to produce advertising, which is a dying industry . . . we're in the business of stimulating consumer engagement, which is where things are going."

I swear I didn't put those words in his mouth :)

As you review this article, I hope you'll consider how you can you adopt these principles to better engage your targets -- whether customers, students, employees or the general public.