#contextual utility

This was going to be a snarky twitter post - I’m good at those, watch out Southeastern Trains! - but I realised this is a subject worth exploring more fully. Those who know me are probably bored by now of my constant banging on about ‘Contextual Utility’. Contextual utility is my take on a shift that’s been occurring in marketing circles for some time now. 

Consumers are sick of being spammed by brands with cleverly purchased Facebook ads, retargeted banners, endless emails…. marketing has run it’s course. Marketers have abused every new channel until consumers literally cannot take any more. You only have to look at the increase in spend on the ad-blocking technology sector (https://blog.pagefair.com/2015/ad-blocking-report/) to see how much consumers don’t want to be marketed at any more. What really confuses me is that marketers and media buyers are also consumers (well, most of them). And as consumers, we hate the spam, the clickbait and the mindless retargeting - and yet we still do it for our clients. 

This is where I believe contextual utility is not only an opportunity for brands, it’s a necessity. 

The best way to create meaningful relationships with your potential consumers is to build trust. You cannot build trust through selling stuff, but you can build trust by making their lives easier. It is by looking at the problems consumers face and providing them with some kind of solution or content, something that makes that a moment of their day that little bit better, that brands can create these meaningful relationships. 

Contextual Utility is the lens through which all marketing activity should be viewed. And if brands aren’t making consumers lives even slightly better, they’re adding to the noise. 

Utility baked in

The thought that got me writing this was actually inspired by yet another ‘insights’ email from Withings, a brand that is all about utility. 

I own a Withings Smart Body Analyser (http://www.withings.com/uk/en/products/smart-body-analyzer - basically a connected scale with a bunch of other sensors in it). I also own a Sony Smartwatch (my review here: http://marccurtis.tumblr.com/post/113705145931/sxsw-with-a-smartwatch), which can track my activity (running, cycling etc). I love both of these things because I feel more in control of my quest to become a little bit fitter and a little bit leaner. 

Both of these devices can feed the data they collect into other platforms and turn them into pretty graphics. I particularly like the Withings site because I can manually enter blood pressure and other readings.    In essence, both of these devices and their associated apps are all about utility, however neither of them is providing true contextual utility. Something which, in my opinion, weakens their relevance to less obsessed (read: normal) consumers. 

To illustrate, take a look at my weekly insights email from Withings: 

Firstly, it’s telling me I’ve done well to lose some weight. That’s nice. But then it tells me I should set reminders to weigh myself more frequently as research shows that regular weight checks aids weight loss. Except I use the scales every day, so are they suggesting I do it twice a day? That can’t be healthy. The next panel is telling me how many steps I’ve done. It suggests I should do more. Why? Where’s the insight telling me what that will achieve? Under this is a tip asking me if I have high blood pressure and telling me that regular exercise will reduce it. This appears directly above the panel showing my blood pressure. Which is far from high. 

Then they chuck in an advert for their watch. 

All in all, Withings has completely failed to use any of the context I’ve provided them with (my data, my demographic info etc) to provide anything approaching a real insight. Google Fit is no better.

All the ‘insights’ tell me is the numbers. These are not insights, these are stats. And given the amount of data this app could collect (physical activity, phone use, images, chat, social media etc), it’s a staggering opportunity missed.

Using this data, and correlating it to other information I could provide - like age, medical history, diet etc - either of these devices could give me small nudges towards a healthier life. For example, “If you walk 100 more steps today, your chance of having a stroke goes down by 2%" 

Take a look at how QuitNow, a free app that helps people stop smoking does it. Users are nudged towards a healthier life by being shown quick wins, medium term benefits and (in the case of returning your lungs to a pre-smoker level of cancer risk), long term goals. 

The whole experience is gamified. One user I’ve spoken to says that whenever she feels like having cigarette she stops because she knows she will have to reset her scores. It’s like losing your Candycrush progress and starting at level one. 

Utility is what people want when they buy devices like a Withings analyser or a Sony Smartwatch. Contextual utility is what will make devices like these continually relevant to the user.