As a graduate student in 1976 at Annenberg’s School of Communication at The University of Pennsylvania, I immersed myself in daily intellectual challenges. Surrounded by ridiculously smart people with undergraduate degrees in anthropology, sociology, linguistics, psychology and the arts, I had to double my efforts to keep up. Annenberg was a thriving community of people hungry for knowledge and thirsty for connections.
Like a sponge, I absorbed countless stories about things like symbols and signs and study of semiotics. There was ongoing research on the effect of TV on perception about crime and violence led by the Dean, George Gerbner. We studied non-verbal communications like how simple things like the design of a room influences the communications flow. One homework assignment was to show how different furniture layouts in space can alter how people engage, interact and communicate with each other. We even got to hang out with Ray Birdwhistell who coined the term kinesics, meaning gesture, posters, facial expression, and gait. This was the birth of understanding non-verbal communications.
But one idea has stuck with me throughout my marketing career. The role of intentionality in communications.
Intention and Communications
I can recall my professor and advisor, Larry Gross talking about how communications occur when there is the intention. At the time when I learned this lesson, I was knee deep in writing my master thesis on photography, and Larry kept pressing me on this idea of intention. Studying photographs of the masters as well as contemporary artists, I tried to interpret the role of intention by the artist in communicating a core message.
What did you as the photographer means to communicate? What was her message, her goal or point of view? What were the signals that gave me that impression? What were the decisions made by the photographer that signal her intention and the implied meaning.
Marketing and Intention
As a marketing professional, I’m continually pushing colleagues or clients to think about the purpose and core message of content carefully.
- Before hitting send or publish, what is the single, message you intend to communicate to your audience?
- Is your intention of awareness or action? It is difficult in a single message to expect both things to occur.
- Your intention may not be clear, and your message can be muddled. Do you have confidence that the message is coming through clearly? Was the message received?
- If you are offering a marketing service and talk about your responsiveness, how do you tell that story? Then how do you show that same message in your response? (I recently filled out a form for some home repair, and the company’s website said we aren’t like other companies, we respond immediately. I haven’t heard from them yet).
- Communication requires two directions – not just one. So, you may be communicating, but your message isn’t getting through due to a lack of intention, clarity or the right audience. Also, how receptive is your intended message recipient to what you have to say?
Before beginning a marketing project, think carefully about what you intend to say before jumping into the tactics. What’s the best medium for telling that story or having your message received? Is your intention to touch someone intellectually or emotionally? Intention can be shifting a feeling, not just delivering a key phrase.
As I learned in graduate school, It isn’t communication if the recipient doesn’t understand what you intended for them to hear.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
