Scott Silverman | Context Over Content, The Demand for Immediacy, & Experiential Marketing

<p>Today on The Negotiation, Scott Silverman emphasizes <em>efficiency </em>and <em>localizing new technologies </em>as the two keys to brand success.</p><p>When it comes to promoting your product, your service, or even your company, you must influence the perception around the thing you intend to bring exposure to. As to “what’s in the soup”, the most <em>sacrosanct</em> are 1) the product, and 2) the key benefit. The brand must be aware of the sensibilities of its target consumer and market accordingly.</p><p>Scott brings up Lenovo’s ThinkPad as an example. Instead of simply translating the copy into Chinese word-for-word, the better approach would be to “calibrate” the benefits to better resonate with the Chinese buyer, which may include the <em>tone</em> and <em>manner</em> of the promotional material. “<em>Content</em> is <em>not</em> key,” says Scott. “<em>Context</em> is key.”</p><p>Scott works in multiple markets in Asia. To thrive as a marketer in these countries, especially as a Westerner, he says that you must “be like a comedian: You have to know your audience.” For instance, he likens Hong Kong to Shanghai (and even Germany), wherein they simply want the hard facts listed out, sans an abundance of visual metaphors.</p><p>Specifically, they want to know these three things: “What is it? How much does it cost? Why should we care?” In fact, Scott does not like to use the term “Asian market” as they are all different, to the point that he now focuses on marketing to<em> individual cities</em>.</p><p>Scott believes that <em>direct response campaigns</em> are the best way to measure consumer insights. These are incredibly valuable in that, for a specific product, a brand may decide on different <em>calls to action</em> or rearranging the <em>list of benefits</em> depending on the city.</p><p>Measuring data was “very basic” in the 2000s compared to today’s market. This was partly due to changes in communication—back then we had direct mail; now we have email and social media. This allows for more cl