The Symbiotic Relationship Between Marketers and Consumers: A Response to a Broken Industry

While consumers acknowledge that our advertising ecosystem allows many of the media products they love to remain free and accessible, the interruptions to their media experience and the privacy concerns that come with advertising leave people feeling exploited by the process.

The symbiotic relationship between consumers and marketers is two things: important to the survival of each and damaged to a critical level.  

Marketing is Mutually Beneficial

The simple goal of marketing is to connect products and people. The best way to market to interested consumers is to reach them in the right place at the right time. Traditionally, this has meant placing ads where people see them. Whether television ads, billboard ads, or online ads, the goal is for a product to come face to face with a consumer whose immediate reaction is, “Hey, I want that!” or to plant a seed that makes them later say, “I should buy that!” Most of the time, when consumers respond to advertising and marketing with such a conversion, it’s because they actually need or desire the product, and the marketing process led them to it.  In this way, the mutually beneficial relationship between marketers and consumers goes back and forth.

The Advertising Process is Injured

Advertisers face a frustrating reality: the public doesn’t like advertising. Years of branding success has only caused more and more ads to oversaturate the market, and people either grow embittered by the process or flat out ignore every ad they see. To worsen an already bad situation, privacy concerns, especially lately, affect public perception of advertisers’ intentions. Instead of demonstrating the healing transparency and security measures the public calls for, the advertising industry responds by ignoring the concerns and dealing in the same shady processes. Meanwhile, consumers consistently grow more and more ruffled.

We all have to do better, for our own sake.  If every component of the industry pulls its weight to repair this damage, this marketing ideal is a reality well within reach.

How do we reach this ideal, when functioning smoothly as a business is difficult enough on its own?

Everyone involved in the advertising space needs to come to terms with the problems within their own piece of the industry, working on the issues from the inside out. This means paying attention to other companies in the ecosystem and choosing to work only with the ones that promote transparency and consumer interest.

It also means:

1. Data companies maintain a diligent watch over both the quality of data produced as well as being conscious of the ethical implications of their product.
2. DSPs are more alert to ad safety threats.
3. Agencies produce relevant content that genuinely benefits the consumers they hope to attract.  

Imagine the success of your campaign if you were reaching people who would see your ad as a beneficial addition to their media experience, rather than as an irritating interruption. Imagine if consumers trusted your ads.

Clickagy promises to do it’s part to produce a quality product and promote a better industry culture.  Read more about our Farm-to-table approach here.