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The Revelation of Intent
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by David Gillespie
on Jul 10
David Gillespie is senior producer at ie Media. Prior to joining ie he worked with start-ups, at DDB, consulted for the Australian Government and travelled the world making computer games. When not offending people, he makes music and sleeps. Visit his blog 'Creative Is Not A Department' if you really can't get enough.
There's a lot of talk lately about brands and the voices they speak with. Be it through products or services, conversation is the new currency through which everyone wants to be measured. If what we've been saying for a while now is true, and our brands are to be imbued with human traits and personalities in order to inform the way they speak to their audience, then we need to look at intent, and I will explain why.
Picture yourself at a party - dinner, cocktail, whatever. Moving through the room chatting to interesting people, you come across a person who can't help but tell you how wonderful they are. They do this not quite looking you in the eye, staring over your shoulder to make sure they're not missing out on anything, trying to figure out in as few seconds as possible what you can do for them, who you're connected to in the room, and what talking to you can achieve based on the party's social pecking order.
I can't speak for the readers on this site, but I can say personally I know the second someone is talking to me as a means to an end. People have writing scrawled across their foreheads, neon signs blinking "You are a rung in my ladder, nothing more". It is transparent as the glass they're sipping from, the contents of which far more potent than the conversation spewed forth from the holder. In this situation I feel sorry for them; sorry that their ability to interact socially is reduced to such nonsense, even more sorry they didn't have the good sense to realise I don't have enough clout to let you jump the queue in Hungry Jacks, let alone put you on a fast track to anywhere.
The above scenario is most brands. A one-way talkfest under the guise of listening, of genuine conversation. Intent is revealed in their social actions, in the way they speak, in the products and services they attach themselves to. If your intent is to provide value to your consumer but also to engage them, then the conversation with the bartender is as lively as it is with the CMO. If however your intent is to make a quick buck before moving on to the next prospect, this is one party you won't be invited back to.
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