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What would I take on an isolated island? A book and a cat. And some chocolate, but my love handles are not very happy about it. No technology. No, sir, thank you very much. I’m a bit fed up with AI, RPA, CRM, and everything that involves math algorithms and pushing a button. It takes my time, my vibe, and my real communication skills away. My name is Diana, but I don’t have Dee Dee’s technical curiosities, neither a Dexter brother. Yet, when I put myself in the shoes of the marketeer, I have to admit that I’m a bit torn. Is technology helping or destroying authentic communication in advertising?
The demon on my screen is saying “yes”. Authentic communication, run for your life
Of course, screens have angels and demons, like the ones sitting on your shoulders. And the demon sitting right above a horrible, horrible scratch on my screen says that technology is ruining authentic communication between a brand and its target. Why?
People need connections
Gone are the days when people buy blindly. Today, people buy more than a product, more than a brand. They buy because of the connection they feel with the brand. Because the brand stands for something they believe in. You buy Coca-Cola because it speaks to the family. You love family time. Or you buy Pepsi because they speak with the cool people. You’d be damn if you weren’t cool. Personally, I buy Peroni Nastro Azzurro because it has the most beautiful beer ads ever. And I don’t even like beer.
Would it be comfortable to know that all these perceptions are created by machines? Machines that write concepts, banners, articles, answer to people on social media. How do you feel when talking with a chatbot on an e-commerce website? It’s cool that you can find what you’re looking for quickly, but do you feel any bond with it? It has no emotional reward. And believe me, in the long term, you want that as a brand.
They have no intuition
Machines work on programmed algorithms. Of course, they are highly trained to identify a variety of situations, but what if the planets collide and the AI reaches a problem it has no data on? Oopsie. It’s just a machine. It won’t have the intuition, nor the soft skills to deal with a problematic customer. It might even make things worse and initiate a PR crisis.
I recently watched a documentary on Netflix talking about the bias in technology and the fact that facial recognition sensors have a lower performance on women and darker skin people than on men and, generally, lighter skin people. I know that many machines don’t have bugs, but they don’t have soft skills either. And that’s a boo-boo.
The angel on my screen is saying “no”. Authentic communication, sit.
Let’s hear the winged man, too. He’s just put the facts hat on and making a Morgan Freeman face:
You can prioritize your tasks
As a marketeer or entrepreneur, you dive into tasks. You have no easy life. You’re like a Duracell bunny always on the move. So what technology can do for you is take some tasks from your list, do it automatically, so you can have more time to focus on the human side of your business. It can collect the data from the landing page forms, while you improve the slogan for your next campaign.
Each time you automate your tasks, you gain more time, energy, and sometimes budget for your communication. For your authentic human-made communication.
No typos
Of course, that’s a valid argument for this conversation! As a non-native English speaker who sometimes writes after a long and exhausting workday, I’m prone to some spelling mistakes. Some are cute or funny or even intentional. Like “Donut worry”. But some might make the user laugh and the customer yell, like: “Ass your supplier…”. That’s when Grammarly comes along. And my grammar-nazi habit to check my texts over and over, but mostly Grammarly.
All in all, my guess is that technology could be the best choice to automate, improve or change some process obstacles, but when it comes to creative communication, ideas, and concepts, you reach better results if putting someone in charge who’s human enough to relate to the audience, feel their vibe, adapt to their language right away, personalize messages so that every interaction your audience has with the brand, it feels warm and welcoming, and not Terminator-style.
And of course, anytime you need a storytelling supplier and a human touch on your brand stuff, I’m here to help.
DM me at diana@makethesloganbigger.com
Photo credit: Unsplash
