Engagement Trumps Advertising

Why Messaging from The Heart Speaks to The Heart

We have all seen the all-to-familiar advertising trope. Choose this product…..Be Handsome, Ripped, Funny, Successful, for just x$ you can go from joe blow average consumer to the Man other men envy, the business success other suckers waste thousands of dollars and years of deliberate effort to achieve and the man every woman forgets every emotional attachment, want, and preference to just throw herself at 🤔

It may seem like with the advances in free flowing information, consumer awareness, legal ramifications over false claims and deception, that those are just the infomercials of days past, the likes we saw at 5 am before school on basic cable because there was nothing else to do than to watch Ron P rotiserrize a chicken while also sharpening his three-hundred-piece deluxe knife set and insight ecstasy in a live audience with his unforgettable catch phrase.

Sadly, we have not quite left these relics in the past. At each gas station counter is a turnstile display with a magic pill that can wake you up, turn you into a hulk at the gym, or even help your…..performance…..to shake the very core of the earth. Apps are often flooded with “free” games that will make you rich, music streaming bombarded with semi local, semi truthful advertising for the most incredible business in almost any field, and the internet itself and every platform trimmed with every this, that and the other you just must have. Finding advertising, or more accurately messaging, from a corporation that is genuine, honest, transparent or meaningful is just as hard as it ever was. But this lament does have a happy note to be found in the story of Tampa International Airport, and a Tiger.

You may remember the social media, and conventional media viral buzz in 2015, when a boy lost his beloved stuffed Tiger in a Tampa International Airport play area. The Tiger was found by a TIA operations Manager who then took the lost loved Tiger on an adventure around the airport, photographing the toy in several locations and creating from the images a book for the boy of his lost Tigers adventure which was left with the Tiger for the boy and his family to pick up.

This was followed by a story of the chain of events, from the mother’s call, to the airline employees unilateral and unprompted act of personal kindness, to the reunion between boy and beast, and was shared on the airlines Facebook and Twitter. Social media discussion turned to buzz, to fandom, to news coverage, to a huge fan following and support of the airline and their employee’s above and beyond care and compassion for their customers. Tale of tiger’s big adventure highlights airport’s commitment to customer service – The Shorty Awards

The most amazing part of this media frenzy? It was NOT a promotional stunt. It was NOT staged to shine a loving light on the airline. It was NOT exaggerated, airbrushed, prettied up, forced, exploited, disingenuous, fake, false, or any other common phrase associated with shallow advertising attempts disguised to be the acts of a customer centric company. It was honest, unscripted, unprompted. It was an employee who cared, decided to show an act, or more accurately serious of acts, of genuine compassion for a heart broken child, and yes, the company shared the experience, but that is the beauty of earned media, its earned!

Earned Media, the unpaid, organic following and support of consumers is the most effective marketing in the world because its real. We as humans have an innate ability, to varying degrees, to know when we’re being sold. While paid marketing and advertising efforts are crucial, often effective, and common place, you cannot replace the emotional connection or easily artificially create the loyalty of a brand fan who FEELS in their heart for the brand. Who respects the brand, feels a familiarity or comradery with the principles that a brand stands for. You can Market products; you can Market brand awareness, but you cannot easily market through paid channels a consumer consensus that your brand actually cares. That is the brilliance of this marketing story, it was not a story for the airline employee to care, it was not a story for them to spend time, effort and money to stop the tears of a friend-lost boy. It was a story to post the events, and a damn good one worthy of posting, and the consumer, follower, and news media outlets reaction that followed was fueled not by an airlines self-promoting post, it was fueled by an airline whose company culture employed, developed and encouraged individuals who care to such a level.

And for that company culture, we salute you and cherish you, and pray for more industry leaders like Tampa International Airlines.