Continuous Partial Attention

On the blog of Linda Stone I have found an interesting article describing new behaviour of young people today called continuous partial attention. I am posting some interesting excerpts of this article:

What is continuous partial attention? Continuous partial attention describes how many of us use our attention today. It is different from multi-tasking. The two are differentiated by the impulse that motivates them. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. We're often doing things that are automatic, that require very little cognitive processing. We give the same priority to much of what we do when we multi-task -- we file and copy papers, talk on the phone, eat lunch -- we get as many things done at one time as we possibly can in order to make more time for ourselves and in order to be more efficient and more productive.

To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention -- CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.

We pay continuous partial attention in an effort NOT TO MISS ANYTHING. It is an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior that involves an artificial sense of constant crisis. We are always in high alert when we pay continuous partial attention. This artificial sense of constant crisis is more typical of continuous partial attention than it is of multi-tasking.

Is continuous partial attention a good thing or a bad thing? Like so many things, in small doses, continuous partial attention can be a very functional behavior. However, in large doses, it contributes to a stressful lifestyle, to operating in crisis management mode, and to a compromised ability to reflect, to make decisions, and to think creatively. In a 24/7, always-on world, continuous partial attention used as our dominant attention mode contributes to a feeling of overwhelm, over-stimulation and to a sense of being unfulfilled. We are so accessible, we're inaccessible. The latest, greatest powerful technologies have contributed to our feeling increasingly powerless.

More on the link above.

The changing role of marketer

David Thorp of Chartered institute of Marketing has written a paper called "The changing role of the Marketer" where he suggests splitting marketing roles into 3 areas:

• Science (analytics & research),
• Arts (creative) and
• Humanities (social networking and collaborative behaviours).

This seems reasonable but I think the marketer in 2009 needs to go further. He needs to be strategic, creative, emotional and also able to see beyond horizon.

As my friend Nick Baggot writes "I think we need to be more rounded, more free thinking and more innovative in everything we do. Marketing teams will get smaller this year. So those that are in roles, need to step up to the plate and make it happen. That means taking risks and stepping out of our comfort zones."

What is a successful event?

As the indicators of successful event is mostly mentioned numbers of participants.

Yes, I can agree, but need to add: where is the quality? Where is the subjective satisfaction of those participated? How many perspectives did it bring?

Because people participated and particulary events itself, are in general only one of the marketing vehicles. The targeted ratio invested dollar vs revenue out of satisfied participants should be the infitite indicator of success for a real marketing manager.