I was watching a show this morning that I normally watch pretty much every morning. I am not a huge TV watcher, just sports. But I also watch a program in the morning every day pretty much as I am helping with my kids and getting ready for work. Anyway, I was watching this morning and at the commercial break, I saw a commercial for a telecom company that had an ad that was very curious to me. It said something like, " Real people there to take care of you".
The reason I found this curious is that I have been seeing this alot lately. It seems like the new popular thing to advertise or market to consumers is that you are "real" or "human" or you have "humans ready to help". It does not seem to be centered in any one industry type, but I have seen a number of the new web consumer companies trying this strategy. What seems odd to me about this strategy though is why this strategy seems to be on the rise. Why are companies, especially new web savy companies so aggressively taking this track?
My hunch is that they are trying to differentiate themselves by telling people that they don't have to deal with technology getting in the way when they have a problem. They are subtly or sometimes not so subtly tellling the consumer that they will have humans answer their questions. I am sure this is a natural reflex to the influx of consumers who are fed up specifically with IVR's that seem to be such a road block to getting things done. But is this really the best marketing track to take?
My sense is no. Especially when according to Forrester Research 65% of people go online first to find an answer to their question. I think what people really want is simple. They want to quickly go to their mobile device or online to find an answer. Not hunt for the answer, find an answer immediately. If their question is a bit more complex, they want to be able to call and believe that the company will quickly get them to an agent because they know that if the person is calling, it probably is something more complex that requires human intervention.
I think the company that has the advertising right is Esurance. "Technology when you want it, People when you don't." That is exactly the right idea in my mind.
What do you think?
