Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2022 - 40

Media, on the other hand? They have
to compete for your attention. No
one thinks to themselves, " You know
what I want? Another long commercial
break where someone just speaks to
me about their great product! " Nope,
media has to make it flashy, fun, sexy
or thought-provoking. They need to
get you to want to engage with their
content, on any kind of platform. And
after decades of advertising, they're
pretty darn good at it. Not sold? In
the next 30 seconds, can you think of
at least five examples of media that
engaged you, where you retained the
info and acted on it?
So that begs the question: How do
we do that in L&D? Let's dive down
that rabbit hole together, starting with
getting people engaged.
ENGAGE
Media professionals have mastered the
art of engaging their audiences, and I'm
not just talking about movies or Netflix
shows. There's a reason the relaunch
ad campaign for the Ford Bronco looks
like it does (see images below).
Do you see a road anywhere? Nope.
They're selling to a specific slice of
the market: People who want to go
off-roading, camping and exploring.
And this is just the rugged, yet stylish,
vehicle to do it in! They're also selling
a persona to you. Let's say you don't
actually like going camping or don't
want to wash mud out of places on
your car you didn't know existed.
That's cool, buy this car and people will
think you're a rugged weekend warrior
of the two-track. The Bronco itself is
just a vehicle, and most people will
probably just drive it to work and the
grocery store, but they will definitely
feel cool doing it! These ads are a great
example of how advertisers cater to
exactly what their audience wants and
gives them content that reinforces that.
THINK ABOUT
WHY YOUR
AUDIENCE WANTS
YOUR CONTENT,
NOT NECESSARILY
WHAT THEY NEED.
Is L&D " selling " people exactly what they
want? Or is L&D giving learners what
they tell them they need? Which would
you prefer to get? And you can't use the
line, " They want this training so they can
start their job! " or " They want this so they
don't get fired! " Sorry, not good enough.
Especially if they can walk into another
place of business tomorrow and make
the same, or more, money. Take the time
to really think about why your audiences
want your content, not necessarily what
they need. People engage much more
with things they want to see.
RETAIN
The holy grail of L&D is getting people
to remember what you taught them.
Once more, there's a lot to be learned
from the media world. An example?
Ba da, ba ba baaaa...
Chances are good, you're lovin' it right
now. This probably isn't the only ad
jingle you remember either, or even
the only ad. A personal favorite is a
Coors Light billboard. It was the normal
mountainous backdrop, a big 'ole Coors
logo, but the verbiage is what stood
out: " Colder than a breakup over text. "
Reading that billboard was followed
by a solid 10 minutes of cracking up.
That ad still sticks out to this day - after
seeing it once years ago at 75 miles an
hour. That's some powerful stuff. They
delivered the message they wanted
people to know, " This beer is cold, " in a
way that was highly memorable.
Now, to be fair, the main reason for ad
retention is what's called omnichannel
marketing. That's a fancy term for " slather
a message on every aspect of the
audience's life. " That McDonald's jingle?
It's on their radio ads, TV commercials,
social ads, print ads, everywhere. It's
near impossible to see a McDonald's
ad without at least seeing the " I'm
lovin' it. " The same goes with any ad
Images courtesy of Ford Media Kit, ©Ford
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Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2022

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