We live in a world where we are constantly blasted by messages and communication, exhortations to do things, or to not do things, to stay healthy, or to eat junk food… there is no end to the list of things trying to grab our attention.
I once read that before the advent of the internet, the advertising world accepted that for a brand name to ‘stick’ in consumers minds, people needed to see an ad for the brand, or for the brand to be mentioned, 3 – 4 times. After that they would recognise the brand, start to feel familiar and comfortable with it, and feel that the product was something they could buy.
The advent of the internet increased this number to 8 – 9, and social media further pushed the number up to the mid-teens.
Now I have no idea whether this story is actually true, but even if the numbers aren’t quite right, the gist of it is that our attention is constantly in demand, and the sad truth is that we only have so much attention to devote to things, and so something has to give.
This principle applies within organisations, too. We get policies and rules and processes thrown at us constantly, and if they’re not immediately relevant to us we’re likely to forget about them, and even if they are relevant to us, we might get distracted by the lates firefight and action goes on the backburner and our momentum to change the way we do things peters out.
I hope the relevance to ITAM is obvious! While we might enshrine the rules we want followed in policy, and document how to follow them in processes, if we don’t inform people that there are rules to follow, and keep reminding them what those rules are, they are going to get things wrong!
Treat ITAM like a brand. To keep it at the forefront of people’s minds, you need to communicate about it consistently. The more innovative and catchy your messaging is, the more likely people are to remember that there are rules to follow. They’ll also be more likely to know who to ask for guidance, and over time might even remember what the rules actually are!
So for this process, put on your marketing hat and get creative. If you want ideas about how to promote SAM and ITAM, then we recommend taking a look at our friend David Foxen’s (aka the SAM Beast) YouTube channel. He’s a master of marketing and creativity and has loads of ideas about how you can promote awareness and get the word out about the good work you’re doing.
