‘Interactivity’

It’s crazy how a word can lose it’s meaning, like ‘interactive.’ It used to mean something that’s engaging and full of possibilities, but now it usually just means “it’s on a computer.”

This is especially true in advertising, where ‘Interactive Art Directors’ congratulate themselves on linear animations that are nothing more than silent TV commercials. Their flat banner ads play in 728×90, 160×600 and 300×250 configurations, usually to the aggravation of web site visitors. They offering nothing new, and if you missed the animation all you’re usually left with is an option to “click for details.”

Interactivity is not just about transferring information on an electronic device, it’s about creating an experience. It’s about giving you tools or capabilities to have (at least some) control, while allowing others to do something else and have a different experience. Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word, and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft are all interactive. Most banner ads and web sites, where all you can do is read, look, watch, and click, are not very interactive.

So I’m here to state: Clicking a link is not interactive.

There is real power in something that’s truly interactive. It draws people in, engages them, lets them make it their own (maybe just a bit). It’s why social media and blogs are so popular: It’s your chance to speak, share, react, create…interact.

For advertising this is especially powerful because instead of turning off possible customers with messages they can’t escape—such as before a movie or online video—you can connect a brand with a personal message, or even better, enlist a customer as an effective, unpaid member of your sales team.

Instead, the people who say they’re harnessing that power of interactivity are usually impotent charlatans who are taking advantage of others.

Although just because it’s interactive doesn’t mean it’s effective. I often see great, engaging sites or apps, but can’t remember the brand behind it because it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t tell their story. It’s like the interactive “Where’s the beef?”

The answer also doesn’t necessarily lie in excessive complexity. If a user needs to learn rules, load new plug-ins, sell their Mac and buy a PC running Windows 7, then it’s just not going to connect with your audience.

(Unless you use this to your advantage: Imagine a “Windows is better” campaign from Microsoft that ONLY worked on Macs running Safari…)

‘Interactive’ campaigns and projects need to think ‘fourth-dimensionally,’ where the imagination engines fire on all digital cylinders; dynamic, non-linear ideas float through the sky because they can’t be storyboarded; designers and developers bob their heads and wings in simultaneous-yet-different appreciation; and Luddite clients stay at home and scratch their heads because they don’t understand.

“That’s OK that you don’t get it; this isn’t meant for you. Remember, some folk thought we’d need wings if God meant for us to fly.”

My tray table is stowed away. My laptop and I are both fully charged.

Let’s click on some clouds.