(* Source: Gretchen Hyman *)

"But how do you break through and touch an audience?" Mandel asked. What are the most effective vehicles for brand and relationship building?

The following are some of the industry survival strategies Mandel explored and some of the successful campaigns that used creativity and innovation for interacting with consumers on their terms:

Become a better storyteller
Consumers are more likely to pay attention to campaigns based on solid and entertaining storylines. As an example, Mandel referenced the Jerry Seinfeld-Superman-American Express campaign, which was widely successfully because of its integration of online and offline promotional tools and its amusing resurrection of one of America's favorite comic book action heroes. Another example she presented was the "Brawny Academy" campaign and its tie-in to reality TV, as well as its success at integrating Brawny paper towels into the storyline.

Create interaction
Instead of trying to draw the consumer to a campaign, engage the existing community where they are in an interactive experience. For this point, Mandel used Ogilvy's IBM Codestation campaign as an example. Based on research that a high number of people that engage in Second Life are software developers, Ogilvy integrated the campaign into the Second Life environment to tap into that a consumer market most likely to respond to an IBM product.

Mandel stressed the importance of integrating text messaging into a campaign, for which she cited the success of a Dove billboard campaign in New York's Time Square that encouraged consumers to weigh in on how they felt about the image of an older woman. Another example was a campaign titled "Text Messages from God" that successfully connected with the teen 18-21-year-old demographic and yielded 100 percent campaign awareness through texting.

Get them talking
The success rate for viral campaigns can skyrocket a brand to success like never before. Mandel used the "Shave Everywhere" campaign as an example. She also used a Dove spot, Evolution, that had originally been intended for a self esteem workshop that ended up on YouTube and proved more successful than Ogilvy's Super Bowl ad. The Dove spot also spawned numerous spoof videos, proving that a great campaign can experience extended brand recognition when it spurs interaction with consumers.

In summary, Mandel named three key components for winning in the interactive space:

1. On Demand: Get relevant information in front of consumers when and where they want it.
2. Entertainment: Use entertainment to create a consumer connection by being funny, outrageous or pertinent.
3. Community: People are using numerous digital means to communicate, and brands can and should be part of that conversation.

"In today's world, you have to get them to invite you in and agree to interact with your brand," she concluded.

Full article here.