Context

Meaning comes not just from the words spoken, but also by what is being spoken around them.

For example:

"Alright, Stacey, the show is starting. You're on in five minutes."
"Thanks, Joe."
"Break a leg, kiddo."

versus

"Well, Tony, did you get it?"
"Nah, Boss. He doesn't have the money. What should I do?"
"Break a leg."

In each of these examples, the phrase "break a leg" is given a distinct meaning based on the context of the conversation. The context is affected by the characters involved, the location, the timing, the events leading up to the conversation, and the other words spoken in or before the conversation.

Marketing messages, too, are impacted by context.

• $2.01/gallon for gasoline is a terrific price - on June 3, 2010. In America. When the gas station across the street is selling gas for $2.47/gallon. It's an abominable price on June 3, 1990 in America, when the guy across the street is selling gas for $1.19/gallon.


• An OxiClean commercial starring Billy Mays was a mundane occurrence on June 27, 2009 (the day before Billy's death). The same commercial had a very different effect on June 29, 2009.


• An email offering a 25% discount on an item could be a welcome surprise to a customer - unless the customer is an overworked businesswoman whose inbox is full of 80 similar unread messages and who has just sworn to forever boycott the next company who sends her an email.

As marketers, we need to know the context of a situation before we start spewing marketing messages. Some contextual information can be gathered fairly easily from examining current news, the rest of the market, and the marketing efforts of partners and competitors. Other information (like the number of marketing emails one customer has received, or a customer's attitude toward a particular brand, or the current state of a customer's life) can only be gathered by having a relationship with the customer. By caring about what the customer thinks, feels, and has to say. By keeping track of how (and how much) you have communicated with the customer in the past. By asking for - and listening to - the customer's comments, expectations, frustrations, and concerns.

As marketers, we have to pay attention to context. Our audience's perceptions are acutely shaped by it; our messages are changed by it. We must listen to it.

My Apologies to the Twitterverse

Yesterday I was enlightened by a survey.

Not a survey that I administered. Not a survey in which hundreds or thousands of consumers responded, and which I, the marketing researcher, analyzed to glean data on consumer attitudes and interests and perceptions.

No. I was enlightened yesterday by a survey that I took.

It was a survey from Twitter, asking about respondents' Twitter usage. In addition to basic demographic information, it asked things like, "Through which applications do you use Twitter?" and "What kinds of information do you like to find on Twitter?" and "What kinds of information sources would you like to find more easily on Twitter?"

The part that enlightened me was my response to this question:

"What is your main reason for using Twitter?"

The choices were something like (a) To give information; (b) To receive information; (c) To connect with other people; (d) Other.

My first instinct said "a". I use Twitter to give information - blog posts, local news, funny quips, interesting retweets.

And then my marketing brain kicked in. I remembered all of my marketing training - that marketing is about building relationships with customers so that marketers can learn how to serve them better, not just throwing products and advertisements at consumers. That marketing should be interactive. That marketing communication is about dialogue, not monologue. That marketers need to listen to their audiences, so that they can learn what customers want and need and desire and prefer and like and dislike.

And so, for a moment, I was tempted to choose the "right" answer - (c). But, for the sake of honesty, I had to stick with my original answer, (a).

Now don't get me wrong - using Twitter to provide information is a fine thing. People want to gain information from the individuals they follow - be it local news information, lifestyle updates from celebrities, sports scores and standings, personal comments about life from friends, or any other of the many types of information.

Providing this information to one's followers is a good thing. But one needs to be listening to his followers, customers, fans, audience members, critics, etc., before he can provide them the information that they are interested in hearing.

Celebrities and organizations and marketers who do not interact with their Twitter followers can still be listening through other sources - other online forums, blogs, polls, other social media networks, focus groups, surveys, in-store conversations with customers, etc. I, however, have not made it a priority to do these things - listening to people on Facebook, on my campus, on other authors' blogs, or on Twitter. This act of only pushing, never listening, is what gives marketers a bad name.

And for this, I apologize. To the Twitterverse, and to the universe of customers out there. I'm sorry that I haven't been listening.

And to my readers especially, I want to do a better job of listening to you. I want to hear what you are interested in, what you are passionate about, and what you would like to see my write about. Please feel invited to share your thoughts with me at any time here on my blog, or on Twitter (@HaleyDD).

From now on, I'll be listening.

AT&T Takes a Step in the Right Direction

In case you hadn't noticed, AT&T has been receiving some flak recently for its less-than-market-leader 3G coverage. Verizon Wireless has been particularly scathing of its iPhone-carrying competitor with its "There's a Map for That" and "Island of Misfit Toys" commercials. AT&T, of course, has put up a defense with its "Postcard" and "Side-by-Side" commercials.

And now, AT&T has put forth a "make-good" effort, in the form of a free iPhone app.

Yesterday, AT&T introduced its new Mark the Spot app into the iPhone App Store. The app enables users to submit a notification to AT&T whenever and wherever they experience dropped calls, failed calls, no coverage, data failure, or poor voice quality. The app can pull the iPhone's GPS information to tell AT&T where the failure happened; alternately, users can manually select a location on the map to indicate where the coverage failure occurred. With the notification, users can also submit additional comments, as well as tell AT&T whether the problem occurs only once, seldom, often, or always.

FAQs within the app reveal what AT&T plans to do with the feedback it receives:

"AT&T will utilize this feedback to optimize and enhance the network. Problems will be clustered to highlight areas for investigation. However, multiple submissions at the same time for the same issue by the same user do not receive higher weighting."

Other commentators seem skeptical about whether AT&T will actually use the feedback submitted via the app to begin patching its coverage gaps. Assuming, though, that AT&T has the resources and infrastructure in place, the company would be unwise to not improve its 3G coverage based upon this information. Not only would such improvements benefit its customers, its reputation, and its sales, but AT&T's Mark the Spot app sets expectations that the carrier will take customers' feedback seriously and work to fix the problems.

Congratulations, AT&T, for taking a step to improve your customer service and effectively repair your reputation. Don't let us down now by doing nothing with the valuable feedback you receive through your new app.