In defence of random
Targeted marketing. Precision consumer profiling. Maximum customer satisfaction with maximum ROI. Striving for a utopia of perfect communications where we only try and sell to people who want our products (even if they don’t know it yet), we can give them a perfect pitch every time and our customers go away feeling happy, even grateful, about having got exactly what they wanted. Sounds great; but firstly, can we ever really get there? And secondly, what might be the negative consequences of trying?
Two clear problems are obvious; exactly how are you going to ‘profile’ us and who is going to control the information? There is a lot of money riding on what you get exposed to and even the most optimistic of us can’t deny that, in the main, buying power ends up winning. Unavoidably, when large sums of money are brought into the question, so is impartiality.
And the problem deepens when you consider the progressive overlap of the digital and off-line worlds. In the US, Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s new Applause media system brings the power of Google to service station customers through a live internet connection. Users view maps on the pump’s screen, search Google’s local business listings by category (restaurant, hospital, gift shop, etc.), and print easy-to-read driving directions right on the pump’s receipt printer as well as serving vouchers for those businesses. Anyone who’s seen an iPhone or iTouch can just imagine how easy and user friendly it will be to log-on, search, find the store or service you’re looking for and from there it’s a simple step to get directions and even a discount that will encourage you (‘drive’ you) directly into that specific place.
But where’s the random? Where’s the getting lost or wandering the streets (or internet highways) and finding something you never expected? I know of course that everyone can still do that… but en masse we’re naturally lazy! We’re set-up to get used to services that work and to get into the habits and routines of trusting them. Especially if they offer us a ‘satisfactory’ experience and ‘the best deal’ that economies of scale can deliver. Everything just as we might expect it to be.
I was talking to our digital department about Search Engine Optimisation the other day, and forgive my exaggeration, but I couldn’t help imagining all these monitor bound intellects sitting at their desks, fighting it out with battalions of code, fleets of servers and acres of broadband at their disposal; crack units of mercenaries enlisted to attack and defend the algorithms. Fooling the ‘engines’ into serving their employers URL higher and more often. Quite frankly it’s disturbing.
Of course proper targeting has it’s clear advantages, mostly down to time saving, but I for one would like to make sure that we keep a good hold of the random. It’s just too easy to manipulate data. It’s about upholding the integrity of ideas and tools like ‘web 2.0’ – making sure that the development, control and creation of the web and it’s targeting and recommendation systems remain in the hands of people and not brands. Staving off the oppressions of those people with the big wallets. Simple things like Amazon showing you the products other people have bought – not fool proof – but at least the recommendations haven’t come from a purchased list of assumptive profiling, they come from actual sales to real people who put their money where their mouth is. Or websites like stumbledupon.com whose specific aim is profiling; to show you new things you might like, based on what you do like… but also, every now and then, it will give you something random, and who knows, you might just discover something completely new that you like even better.
