Pete Engages on Engagement

I first heard about the "engagement" movement from one of my former P&G colleagues, Ted McConnell, and upon hearing the word I immediately got very excited. Yes, we're all bringing a diverse range of definitions to the table (perhaps too many), but there's no question the "engagement" debate is pushing the frontiers of our thinking about advertising effectiveness, and in a highly consumer-centric manner. Indeed, the current model or reach & frequency is outdated and over-simplified, especially in the age of consumer control. From my particular vantage point, as someone (like Max) who meters and measures online consumer expression for a living, I'm seeing a whole new context of engagement, and the chart here tries to illustrate (in the bottom half) what I'm talking about. What's so powerful about consumer-generated media (CGM), is that it represents clear de facto evidence of "engagement" with brands, including the spectrum of negativity, which I firmly believe must always be factored into the equation. I'm written a few articles on this subject. They include:

Get Ready to Engage with the Engagement Metric

Consumer-Generated Media: The Age of Engagement

Are GRPs Enough in the Age of Consumer Control?