I decided to check to see what McDonald's is doing to enhance their engagement marketing right now. To see if they really don't get it. Sure enough, they do not.
In a recent article in the New York Times, The New Rules of Engagement, Stuart Elliott notes: "Madison Avenue is turning its focus to something called engagement". Apparently a portion of the Advertising Research Foundation's 52nd annual conference is being devoted to the subject, which seems to be barely understood by most of the marketers quoted in the article. The Chief Research Officer of the foundation explains that engagement is based on emotional, as opposed to rational, considerations.
He's got this part right: "With engagement, you're on your way to a relationship instead of just a sales transaction."
The International Media Director at McDonald's, Giovanni Fabris, "said the emergence of the cellphone as a medium would significantly improve the ability of marketers to engage with consumers." Exactly! Because it's two-way communication, right? Because the customers can call McDonald's any time they want... No, wait.
Sure enough, Mr. Fabris defines engagement via cell phone as the ability "to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time", a miracle that allows McDonald's to send ads to individuals who, finally, "can be found wherever they happen to be" -- not just when they're in front of the TV or driving past that billboard.
Well, here's a newsflash, Mr. Fabris. You don't get it. You're still thinking broadcasting, because you're still thinking "messaging". The new networked economy is many-to-many: you talk to people, they talk to each other, they talk to you. That's what engagement is. You're still in lecture mode, while all of us are having conversations.
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