PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT

IN THE DIGITAL AGE

A Presentation at the MARKCOM

Students Forum 2015By Sola Fijabi

Yes, No or Maybe?

Table of Content

Setting the stage.

Demystifying the two terms ‘Perception Management’

and ‘Digital Age’

Understanding our principal focus – the customers.

Connecting the ‘Perception-Digital’ divide

Some important insights for 2025

Competencies BRANDS should grow

Competencies YOU should own

Conclusion

Q and A.

In Context

Perception Management is a fancy word for helping

brands become positioned at an advantage over their

competitors. The term traces it’s origin to the US military

but has since spread into governance and business circle.

Perception Management is now offered as a service by

most PR firms.

It is all about persuasion. Persuading people to become

customers and then remaining loyal customers.

Context... Cont’d

Perception Management requires a voice and

a medium. Today, the voice (brand) is being

heard through a new medium (digital).

This is where the marketing

communication professional comes in, he

is a bridge that connects brands and

consumers.

Context ... Cont’d

In the face of massive information flux, a new

challenge arises; brands are faced with a need to

beat competitors, to remain the first solution in the

minds of their customers.

How do they do this?

PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT

Take Home/ Objectives

To educate future and current marketing

communication practitioners of industry trends

and useful insights that will equip them to meet

the demands of consumer engagement in

today’s digital sphere.

Demystifying The Term Perception

Management

Perception Management is a strategy that is

aimed at guiding the motives, emotions, and

conclusions of another party by means of using

different approaches to alter that party’s

perception of past events and the projections of

future events.

– wisegeek.com

Perception Management Cont’d

• It involves the selective use of available data.

• The goal is to influence behaviour, position someone or something at an

advantage.

Perception management finds use in the

Military

Governance and politics

Business; advertising, marketing, brand management and risk management.

Leadership

Psychology

Journalism

Sports etc.

Perception management is

somewhere between marketing and

advertising.

Somewhere PR

perfectly sits!

Digital Age

Also called the Information age and ‘The New

Media Age’. It started in 1978.

It is the present time in which information

is available and consumed in digital forms

using internet enabled devices.

Digital Age Contd

• By 2015, there had been an estimated

2 billion PCs in the world –

• As at 2014, Android operating platform

had surpassed a one billion global user

reach.

• By 2030, the world’s urban population is

expected to hit five billion.

Source

Garnet Dataquest

Anthropocene Journal

Understanding The

Principal Focus: The

Consumers

Your consumers are the final link

in the chain. They buy your

product or service, talk about it

and may or may not recommend it.

Perception management involves

managing what they think of a

brand, and tweaking that thought

(if need be).

Connecting The Perception –

Digital Divide

So you have a voice (the brand) and a medium (digital).

Perception management connects the two.

Think of it this way, Perception Management is planning

what goes through, when, where (as well as

destination) and how the fluid (message) gets to the

final consumers through the pipeline (medium)

Connecting The Perception –

Digital Divide Cont’d

Perception management involves managing two sides

of a divide; the brand and the people - and doing this

effectively is what separates the quacks from the real guys.

Keep in mind that perception influence people’s

behaviour.

Connecting The Perception – Digital Divide Cont’d

• Customers are now online.

• They are connected to each other and you.

Thanks to the internet and freedom of speech, they can say anything.

THAT IS WHERE YOU COME IN

You need to take what they are saying, present it to your brand and use it to

create value.

AND ALSO

Communicate the right message to those consumers so you, the brand remain

the first thing on their mind

Connecting The Perception –

Digital Divide Cont’d

The key to effective perception management is

communicating the right information.

Communication is two way thing.

TALK and LISTEN … and vice versa.

The new digital age gives room for massive

communication

As a Marketing Communication practitioner,

• You talk the right TALK

• Put your ears on the ground for FEEDBACK.

Strategy

• Every endeavour of man begins with a plan. Communication is

therefore no exception. Plan everything.

• Your strategy gives you a blue print of where you are, what you can

do and what you want to achieve – for your client/ brand.

Your strategy should be:

Simple but technical

Easy to understand

Achievable

Measurable

Fun,

Transferable to another project.

Flawless Execution

Remember the saying, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’ – It’s quite

true!.

But, all planning and no action amounts to wasted time, and funds. So

get yourself off the thinking platform and get on with the job.

Keys to flawless Execution.

Time management

Project management

Having an awesome dedicated team

The right training and education

Passion for the job

Rest

• Values are fast changing. This means you brand has to catch in on that too.

What was ‘bad’ 10 years ago, may be termed acceptable in ten years time.

• Technology integration will be key.

• Big data and algorithm driven by analytics would be the ultimate tool for getting

consumer insights and making business decisions.

Value Points From Insights for 2025

More Insights

• Smartphone may become all that is needed to be

productive. This is called IoT! (Internet of Things)

• Consumers would be in constant need for ‘an

experience’ as against ‘stuff’.

• You will need to offer something more than ‘stuff’.

Customers would want to know, so educate them –

make this an added value your brand gives them.

Competencies Brands Should

Grow

Digital culture inclusion in the workplace.

Team work and leadership

Social media management

Brand marketing

Content marketing

Risk management

Competencies You Should

Own

Project management

Writing and content marketing skills

Critical, analytical and creative thinking

Digital marketing skills

Negotiation skills

Marketing skills

‘Can do it’ mentality

Team Work

Remember

‘For brands to remain competitive,

they must move pass being

objects, logos and colours.

They must literarily come alive’

Consider your game, your

competition, your value system,

your network, your belief system …

Step up!

Quote of the Decade

In the race for excellence

there is no finish line.

- Graffiti somewhere in Dubai