Media's impact on humans, as explored by Havas
In the ever-evolving world of media and advertising, a new philosophy is gaining traction - Human Experience (HX). The goal is simple yet revolutionary: to re-humanize the relationship between brands and people.
HX, a concept developed by Havas Media, aims to put the human experience back into media, addressing the issue of data and technology dehumanizing relationships in the advertising and media industry. This philosophy challenges the status quo, encouraging marketers to empathetically understand and serve the underlying needs of their audiences, rather than treating them as mere data points or personas.
Dan Holt, strategy partner at Havas Media UK, identifies five fundamental human levers: growth, esteem, love, distraction, and certainty. These levers shape brand and media strategy, with growth focusing on personal development, esteem on helping people feel good, attractive, and confident, love on fostering genuine, authentic fandoms and communities, distraction on creating enriching, entertaining experiences, and certainty on reliability.
The Ocado case study provides a compelling example of HX in action. The campaign, titled "Life Delivered", aims to dramatize the reliability of the service and uses high-attention channels like cinema and podcasts to create a connective tissue and deliver a breadth of human experience.
However, it's not just about reaching as many people as possible. The Ocado case study demonstrates the importance of over-committing to high-attention environments and sacrificing some reach for channels like cinema and podcasts, where content can be dimensionalized to deliver a fuller human experience.
Fairhead Keen, a media and advertising professional, encourages his peers to start asking different questions, such as "how can I be useful, how can I be entertaining, how can I improve their life in some way?" rather than just serving impressions indiscriminately. He emphasizes the importance of considering the value of the content being produced for the individual and society, rather than just focusing on being seen to care or ticking a box.
Patrick Fagan, a behavioral scientist, notes that trust is generational and social, with patterns across decades. However, excessive focus on untrustworthiness can create a fashion of distrusting brands and authority. This underscores the need for empathy and understanding in advertising, to build trust and foster meaningful connections.
Interestingly, younger people trust digital ads more than older people, according to the Meaningful Brands data, suggesting a generational divide in trust towards digital advertising. This highlights the importance of HX in bridging this gap and creating advertising that resonates with all generations.
In conclusion, HX offers a promising approach to re-humanize the relationship between brands and people in the media and advertising industry. By focusing on real human needs, emotions, and experiences, HX aims to create media content and advertising that is genuinely useful, entertaining, and empathetic, thereby improving how media serves people behind the screens rather than just chasing metrics like reach or clicks.
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