Google’s ‘Messy Middle’ is further proof of brand power being alive and well
In the last week, Google released their latest take on the customer journey model — titled the ‘messy middle’
Now, they’re admirably careful to point out that this isn’t an attempt at reinventing the wheel. An early section acknowledges the evolution of theories and frameworks that have attempted to dissect the decision making process of purchase journeys as far back as AIDA, conceived in 1898 (a fact I am sure to have learnt back in high school Business Studies before promptly forgetting— probably while losing at pogs).
The findings from their research essentially suggests that the consumer phase(s) between trigger and purchase is a non-linear jumbled mess of choice, information, word-of-mouth, opinion and general noise.
‘Purchase’ itself is orbited by that now well-trodden discipline of ‘experience’ — a reasonable suggestion given that so many purchase experiences now occur through a screen and with a tap of a button, so peripheral experience has much broader influence.
But the real meat in the sandwich is the acknowledgment that the entire journey is circled by what they term as ‘exposure’. It’s always-on, and a fairly constant background influence in decision making.
Google suggests that exposure isn’t just applied to brand presence. In fact, to quote directly:
Exposure is not a stage, or a phase, or a step. It’s an always-on, constantly changing backdrop that remains present throughout the duration of the decision-making process.
And it’s not just made up of branding and brand perceptions. Broader category exposure and related category exposure are also components of the backdrop. This too is a vast territory, but these types of exposure are often complicit in triggering a purchase.
A collective ‘HURRAH!’ goes up from the brand purist community! I mean, this isn’t the first time that respected researchers or marketing academics have concluded this, but it’s hugely validating to see it in a report from a company like Google — one of the single biggest sources of insight in human behaviours in the world.
And it doesn’t end there. Far from suggesting that the influence of exposure means that brands are now more powerless to influence decision-making than they thought, they go on…
Implicit in the structure of our experiment (and marketing in general for that matter) is the idea that to take preference share away from a competitor brand, you have to be present when consumers are deliberating.
This might seem obvious, but it’s such a fundamental point that we don’t want its importance to be mistaken. And as we’ll see, there is surprising power in just showing up at the right moment.
That’s right… brand presence. Being there, in the moment, can help you gain share from competitors. Shocker!
Of course, it’s not as simple as just that. We would never want to make what we do too easy would we? The below example from the report highlights certain categories are far more susceptible to purchases making alternative choices, simply by being presented with a 2nd option, than others. And it doesn’t account for brand resilience (some are naturally far more resilient than others).
It’s a lengthy but absorbing read — one which I’m by no means qualified to summarise in a single article. It also emphasises the importance of appreciating behavioural science (particularly biases which influence our decision making). But, as stated above, they do stress not to underestimate the sheer power of being visible, in the right places at the right times.
I’d urge any marketers who haven’t already — download and read the report. It is admittedly a little ‘Google heavy’ in some parts (I would contest the validity of using search trends to prove behaviour in a hugely meaningful way). But whether you’re familiar or not with similar findings from the likes of Binet & Field or Ehrenberg Bass, to see them d put to the test with the might of Google’s data and sampling abilities is surely a huge ‘told you so’ to any remaining doubters!
Even in our hyper-fast, information overloaded, online world, the power of brand is still with us. Investing in long-term brand building is essential to maintain and grow. Advertising can work. We just have to acknowledge that the ways in which people interact, source and decide has changed immeasurably.
Brand marketers — keep ploughing that furrow, and the cream will rise.
