Get Advertising and PR to Work Together for a Spreadable Approach

It’s a commonly held belief that word-of-mouth is the way a brand is defined and its reputation is developed. But marketers have often kept that “truth” at arm’s length, instead buying into the illusion that audiences are malleable receptacles for corporate messaging. Many celebrate the Internet as a “game-changer” that has given voice to the customer.

However, the reality is that the Web has created an archived, visible trail for the sort of conversations that have always truly defined how a brand’s messages are actually put in motion.

For the past few years, I’ve been immersed in a research effort among the community surrounding the annual MIT Futures of Entertainment event addressing what we call “spreadable media.” The basic premise is that, as digital communication becomes more prevalent, corporate communicators and media creators continue to hold steadfastly to concepts like “stickiness” to measure success. This mentality still prioritizes content put in centralized, easy-to-measure spaces—and then making audiences come to it.

Or, as we think about messages spreading, the corporate communications world has bought into the parlance of “viral.” In this mindset, marketers imagine that people serve as passive carriers, infecting everyone they reach with a marketing message. Both preserve the illusion of a broadcast mentality—that all power lies with a brand and that marketers can create messages that people will internalize and share as is.

Marketers, media creators and academics must think through the implications of the way we frame these processes. For content to truly spread, it must be able to circulate through many individual audience interactions rather than existing in one “sticky” location. And this process cannot be imagined as a passive one. Rather than “going viral,” marketers must consider the central role the audience plays in spreading content and all the active decisions individuals make in deciding how, in what context, and to whom messages are spread. And we have to consider “traditional” media as part of that process, not distinct and unrelated.

Watching the “Spread”
As I work on a “spreadable media” book project with the University of Southern California’s Henry Jenkins (author of “Convergence Culture”) and UC-Santa Barbara’s Joshua Green (co-author of “YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture”), I’ve been particularly interested in how ideas from our work has been adopted in marketing circles. What interests me most is what I see as a distinction in how advertisers pick up the concept and how the “spreadability” mentality resonates for public relations.

In advertising, taking up the task of creating spreadable media aims for creating initiatives and marketing content that audiences will want to share. This means bringing the brand closer to the audience by being responsive to what audiences are talking about and involving them in the creation and distribution process. Advertisers must embracing the interpretation, commentary, modification and personalization of content by their audiences for the messages they create.

Meanwhile, in PR circles, the mantra of “spreadability” relates to relationship-building. From a public relations perspective, a “spreadable” mindset is driven by an active listening process: identifying when, where, how, and why audiences are discussing a brand or issues the brand takes a stance on.

That listening should transform how a company engages with audiences, from altering message development to directly entering in dialogue when appropriate. And, as communication teams move into the social space, they need to maintain a steady stream of messages that act as fodder or material for the conversations audiences are already having. If brands want to see their messages gain traction, their online presence has to fluidly connect these processes of listening, engaging and creating over time.

The use of transmedia content for movie/television promotions such as HBO’s “True Blood” or outreach to provoke discussion such as with Electronic Arts’ release of their “Dante’s Inferno” game demonstrate innovative ways companies are creating content audiences will want to spread.

Active listening changes the way a company communicates and does business and can build a steady, long-term communication presence for their brand. Pepsi’s Refresh project, IBM’s The Greater IBM Connection and Comcast’s Comcast Cares initiatives all demonstrate how companies are creating initiatives and platforms with a spreadable mentality to facilitate deeper, sustained conversations/relationships between brands and their audiences.

Converging to Spread
It helps everyone in the organization if advertising and public relations work in concert rather than engaging in turf wars and insults.

As advertisers rethink their role in the new world order, a “spreadable” mentality opens doors for brands to listen more effectively to their audiences when planning and executing marketing campaigns. Campaigns can be designed to embrace and reward the activity of grassroots intermediaries and take a “transmedia” approach to create more participatory experiences.

Meanwhile, PR’s role is to develop a deep and sustainable infrastructure for listening to, engaging with and creating content for audiences online. Processes should be created for listening and reaching out to audiences in broadcast and social media, as well as other outlets. Innovative and spreadable advertising campaigns might fall within that framework, but the overall communication structure and mindset of the organization needs to help spread the message beyond the core campaign.

Social media provides a space where advertising and PR pros can shine at what they do best.

For ad professionals, that means deepening the experience of the media content they create, with an eye toward the long-term. For PR professionals, that means crafting a communication structure to take the organization through listening, engaging, creating and maintaining this spreadable approach.

Sam Ford is director of digital strategy of Peppercom Strategic Communications.