Traditional campaigns felt to people like politics to Iowans: They get bombarded with messages for a specific period of time, just to hear nothing and be completely forgotten once the campaign has ended.

This might have made sense in an analog world but it makes absolutely no sense in a digital world: The widget you created 2 years ago is still alive and well on many desktops. Your videos are scattered all over the digital landscape. Games. Banners. Emails. Everything you create in a digital world lives on. Forever.

The new marketing reality forces brands to rethink their campaign strategy: Media and/or Creative used to be the foundation of each campaign. Not anymore. Platforms are king. Platforms should be at the center of each and every campaign. They can be part of your own platform or dedicated platforms outside of your own brand platform, such as YouTube channels or Facebook groups. These platforms need to allow for adjustments, adaptations and improvements.

Just like the corporate site, brand platforms need constant nurturing and a strong commitment from brands. They are not mini sites that will become irrelevant once the campaign ends. Instead, their goal is to create a welcoming home and engage people 24/7 in a conversation.

Ask yourself: Who would you vote for? The candidate that throws a huge bash every 2 years, not to be seen again for another 730 days? Or would you choose the candidate that converses with you through your favorite channels (Email, Town hall meetings, Phone calls, etc) on an ongoing basis, always accessible, always ready to listen to your concerns? The ongoing dialogue and nuturement is what people are looking for. Or they will move on.

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. (Oscar Wilde)

The only completely consistent people are the dead.  (Aldous Huxley)

Generally, consistency gets a bad rap. Many people feel it’s uncreative, doesn’t allow for evolution of ideas. But consistency is extremely important for brands.

People get deluged by 3,000 + messages daily and only the concise as well as consistent messages will break through the clutter. But, as we know from our own experience with Chinese Whispers, being concise and consistent doesn’t always produce the best results. Businesses need to switch people from a hearing to a listening mode.

We all hear gazillion pieces of information each day. But we don’t listen to a lot of information. The more engaged people are with your message, the more likely it is that they really listen to you and spread the word the way it was intended. Businesses need to build platforms to make as easy as possible for people to spread the message. Sure, not every information you disseminate will be spread the way you planned ahead of time. But, as long as people are passionate and enthusiastic, they will be able to spread with the right intent.