• by March 30, 2005

By Jana O'Brien

"Consumer" isn't a poetic word. Instead, this most-used word in our marketing vernacular is arguably a patronizing, uni-dimensional word. Marketing thought leaders have tried to rename the consumer for years. I've heard the consumer called "customer," "boss," "god," "partner," "human being," you name it. I call the consumer "Evan." Let me explain.

A few months ago, I sat on MediaPost's Forecast 2005 panel and was asked the question, "What should we call consumers?" I listened to my very intelligent and insightful co-panelists offer their suggestions and then I said, "I think we should call the consumer Evan." Evan happens to be the name of my 15-year-old son, and his was the first face that came to mind when the question was posed.

My point was not to elevate Evan to icon status, but to humanize our view of consumers from a mass of faceless, brainless, and nameless automatons, to unique, living, breathing, thinking souls with intelligence, discriminating taste, life experience, great diversity, and unprecedented power to do what they want, when they want, and how they want without any help (or, heaven forbid, interruption) from us.

Humanizing the Evans of the world is not a new concept. The greatest advertising minds of all time preached it  Bill Bernbach, David Ogilvy, Mary Wells, and Leo Burnett advocated this philosophy. The desire of marketing people to be grounded in humanity got me thinking.

Isn't it true that the best lessons we've learned in marketing really aren't all that different than the lessons we've learned in life? The problem is, we too often get sucked into the vortex of business-speak and business-think, and lose sight of the universal lessons that define best practices in life, and, strangely enough, best practices in marketing and advertising, as well.

So how do we reach Evan? Inspire Evan? As his mother, I've got a pretty good idea what works and what doesn't. It's all pretty basic stuff that mothers have known for years. In fact, you will be surprised to find how many of the best mom lessons apply perfectly to the world of marketing.

"Don't talk to strangers" As marketers, we need to introduce ourselves and earn consumers' trust before we ask them to reveal themselves or engage with us in a dialogue. Marketing is not about sucking people in against their will or tricking them into an interaction.

"Don't interrupt. It's rude" If we want to be effective marketers, we have to climb into the consumers' shoes (and pc mouse, and tivo remote, and cell phone), and help them accomplish their goals. Interrupting, derailing, or distracting people from their purpose is, just as mom warned, downright rude.

"Respect your elders" The best advertising from the best advertising minds didn't focus on the advertising medium, it focused on how to persuade the consumer, and then evolved and adapted to the potential of the medium at hand.

"Don't copy other people's work" "Survivor" and "Queer Eye" augured the reality tv takeover of primetime. The problem with this, is consumer savvy, or the savvy to discriminate between the leaders versus the followers. As media professionals, we should be innovators, not imitators. We must hire, nurture, and grow idea people, people who ask "What if?" Lemmings need not apply.

"Do your homework" We need to study, learn, and understand consumers like we did in school. We need to invest in understanding their wants and needs, and what makes them respond.

"Be a good listener" and "Pay attention to the details" If we speak to consumers in an engaging, contextually relevant place, a relationship will blossom.

If we find ourselves getting sucked back into the vortex of industry myopia and losing sight of the real world, there's a quick way to recalibrate ourselves by doing what moms like me have told offspring like Evan to do for nearly a century: "Call your mother!"

Jana O'Brien is executive vice president and director of strategic research for GM Planworks, a unit of Starcom MediaVest Group. (jana.o'brien@chi.gm-planworks.com)