- Dorothy Wetzel

In times of economic turmoil, it's no secret that consumers have become increasingly distrustful of big business. That's a big problem.

Two years ago, Time magazine's Person of the Year was a person we all happen to know: the American consumer, whom the editors declared the driving force in business. But that was a different era. Today, as he fears the loss of his job and looks at his emaciated 401(k) statement, our Person of the Year is angry—and, chances are, it's big business he's angry with. Clearly, something needs to be done, but what can a company really do in the face of rampant skepticism?

It can start a dialogue, and that's exactly what brands must do now. Think of it this way: Engagement is the new awareness. And return-on-engagement is the new ROI.

ROI was about the effective deployment of internal resources, but ROE offers a more customer-centric, outwardly focused approach. It's about reaching out to, and interacting with, consumers.

Put another way, think of ROE as an extrovert and ROI as an introvert. Extroverts get their energy and ideas through interaction with others, while introverts thrive on inward contemplation. An extroverted company, therefore, drives growth by seeking out and implementing customer ideas, while the introverted company builds sales through analysis.

So companies need to boost their ROE; how are they supposed to track it? The old saying is that talk is cheap—but not in this case. Talk is everything. Are people saying positive things and recommending your product? Today, we can track talk as never before. We can measure velocity (the speed at which the message gets around); "virality" (how frequently a brand's messaging passes from consumer to consumer) and "viracity" (the level of truth maintained as the message spreads.)

As with any broadscale change in a company's thinking, a true commitment to engagement requires senior management to commit first. That said, there's much that marketers can do. The first step is learning to be a proverbial fly on the wall—the virtual wall. Don't launch that new Web site unless you have a clear idea about the consumers' information and experience gaps by putting an ear to the blogosphere.

It's also essential to be creative about adopting ways that consumers can give you their input. Not every company is ready for Dell's "IdeaStorm," a virtual town square in which anyone can propose and argue for new ideas about the company's products and services. An easier acclimation might look more like Northwestern Insurance's LetYourWorriesGo.com, which encourages people to vote on which causes most deserve the company's philanthropic attention. Next, when creating your brand's messaging, consider employing some public relations thinking. What's going to get consumers truly engaged? Understand the importance of associating your brand with something authentic. In healthcare, for example, that's often disease awareness. In financial services, it could be responsible budgeting.

Finally, realize that consumers aren't just a source of ideas and feedback, but energy. Don't underestimate the power of direct interaction. Arrange for the call center to let you listen in. It's easy to get RSS feeds of your brand's blogosphere activity but, better still, think about direct interaction with customers. During a recent in-person "voice of the consumer" initiative, I learned first-hand how one-on-one involvement can provide R&D folks with a far richer and holistic view of both their jobs and the people they serve.

I don't suggest that moving ROE to the forefront of a company's branding ethos should mean that ROI should disappear from its marketing arsenal. Indeed, it can't. Businesses must be efficient and investments prioritized. But so long as the economy puts dour, skeptical faces on most every consumer, it's more important than ever to look at those faces, and engage with each and every one of them.



Pharmaceutical marketing veteran Dorothy Wetzel is the managing director of Glow Worm, a Publicis Healthcare company.

She can be reached at (212) 463-3959 or Dorothy.wetzel@glowwormagency.com.