Websters.com—the new Webster’s Dictionary because they don’t make actual dictionaries anymore, do they?—defines “nomophobia” as nothing, because the term is so new, it hasn’t been approved by Mr. Webster, I guess. But thanks to Wikipedia, we see that nomophobia is “the fear of being out of mobile phone contact.”
Jeez, you say.
However, this new phobia is more prevalent than you think. I have a friend whose Thanksgiving Day was ruined (ruined!) because of a lost iPhone. She was surrounded by her nearest and dearest family members of course, so it wasn’t a lack of human connection that left her hopeless and wanting to die—it was her digital world she missed. (Sure, she could have hopped onto a laptop, but what is this 2009?)
This attachment to everything digital poses quite a dilemma for marketers. Not only because you have to chase this media fragmentation, but because you have to remember that, in the end, your brand still needs to talk to a person. Not machines or a gaggle of people. A person.
This is simple, but easy to forget. All the qualitative and quantitative research numbers in the world can paint the perfect demographic/psychographic picture for a brand, but your story is still the hero. And hopefully you have a story that elicits human emotion.
MARKETING & NOMOPHOBIA
How does this affect marketing communication? Let’s take SEO as an example. In the old, dark days of SEO, one could find his target audience’s main Google search terms and load his website with these keywords and key phrases—craftsmanship be darned. So if you’re a cat sweater company, for example, you’d write “cat sweater” a billion times on CatSweater.com, and eventually, if all went well, your website would rise to the top of the Google search ladder. Of course, no human being in the world could read or decipher said “cat sweater” site, but who cared? CatSweater.com was #12 in the world! We’re rich! Our cats are rich!
Not anymore. Thanks to Google Panda and Google Penguin, duplicate content for the sake of duplicate content can actually decrease a website’s PageRank. Ouch. Seems Google figured out that people want to visit websites that not only match their needs, but also make sense. You know, websites that actually communicate. The good news is that SEO is more important than ever when used correctly. More good news is that JMG is more than willing to help.
So the next time you see a cat sweater ad that touts “innovation, quality and innovative quality,” ask yourself whether the Cat Sweater Company is connecting to a real person or just stuffing keywords.
Now I’m off to check my Twitter feed.
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