The 4 Types of Engagement. At Advertising Week in New York, there was probably no more often used term than "engagement. " In fact, there was a whole day devoted to it, sponsored by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA). And on the previous day, a panel at MediaPost's Forecast 2007 conference debated the topic for an additional hour.
What was clear is that the industry is very unclear about engagement-- at least the direction that the MI4 task force of the ARF, AAAA, and the Association of National Advertisers are going. A search of iMedia Connection quickly turns up scores of articles with the word engagement in the title. But the authors typically refer to some kind of physical engagement, such as a click through on an ad or an experience on a website. Reading more widely, I have found four different uses of engagement: Media engagement: Ad-selling media organizations have pounced on engagement like a pride of lions on a wounded wildebeest. 1. 2. 3.
Brand engagement. Brand engagement is the process of forming an emotional or rational attachment between a person and a brand. It comprises one aspect of brand management. What makes the topic complex is that brand engagement is partly created by institutions and organizations, but is equally created by the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of those with whom these institutions and organizations are communicating or engaging with. External[edit] Brand engagement between a brand and its consumers/potential consumers is a key objective of a brand marketing effort. In general, the ways a brand connects to its consumer is via a range of "touchpoints" -- that is, a sequence or list of potential ways the brand makes contact with the individual.
Internal ("close stakeholder")[edit] There are two broad areas where brand engagement is relevant within an organization (employees and close stakeholders such as franchise staff, call centers, suppliers or intermediaries). The measurement angle[edit] Digital brand engagement. Due to the way the Internet is fast evolving, especially through the social web and social media, there is now a plethora of digital channels which can be used to hold a dialogue between a Brand and a Consumer, or groups of consumers. Digital brand engagement is brand engagement with a key focus on communication via the web. The Cluetrain Manifesto written by four visionaries in 1999 (which is now a very long time ago) predicted the Internet would evolve to a point where the consumer holds the "power" and no longer could the corporate world continue to communicate to their markets (the people they wish to interact with) in a push marketing or broadcast manner.
How right they were. The Internet has evolved and people/consumers can now be very selective about which brands they choose to interact with; and have the ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings globally. The key elements to consider when listening and observing, before formulating a digital engagement strategy, are: The Myth of Brand Engagement. Marketers call what they do "engagement," "interaction," "relationship-building" or worse yet, "encouraging the customer to experience the brand.
" However, substitute "brand" with "Tabasco enema," and you can picture the usefulness of such tactics and how uncomfortable your audience is with them. * * * * * You must admit -- marketers have a curious way with language. For decades it was the industry's goal to "target" an audience, as if to say the only way to make money was to treat consumers as objects to be destroyed. More recently, although we are using more 2.0-friendly language for interactive marketing, just as often we still use "target" and "engagement," both of which project the consumer as an adversary. Join over 624,000 marketing professionals, and gain access to thousands of marketing resources! As the youngest member of his family, Cam Beck decided to put college on hold long enough to join his brothers and father in the Marine Corps.
What Is a Brand Engagement? - mobile wiseGEEK.