"I am convinced that in communications - and not only in them - there is a test question "why", which must be asked constantly"

Sergey Zverev, Head of the Integrated Communications Department, gave an interview to RBC Trends, in which he shared his vision of the communications industry today.

It seems that everyone has a different understanding and understanding of communications when we talk about media consumption. What is communication from your point of view?

This will not be a classical definition, but I would say this: communication in a broad universal sense is the process of human-to-human interaction, with the surrounding nature or organization, brand with their audiences.

In the process of interaction, new meanings and relationships are created. If we talk about communications as a conscious process, then we absolutely must understand what we want to get as a result, and why we are discussing communications at all.

I am convinced that in communications - and not only in them - there is a test question "why", which must be asked constantly.

Absolutely any action must have an answer to the question: "Why are you doing this?" not in the sense of how many, relatively speaking, likes, percentage points or positive reactions to an action you want to get. Not. You must have a perfectly clear verbal answer specifically in the field of communication, which answers the question "Why?" at the level of meanings. Thus, you check how your actions are consistent with the goal.

What other parameters are there that you would recommend looking closely?

There are four aspects that affect and matter.

1. Change of subject. If you change, the inner content changes. What and how you are doing must correspond to the idea of ​​where you are striving, how you are striving, and so on.
2. Change in technology for creating and distributing content. Here, respectively, we are talking about the channels and the form of presentation of content.
3. Who are you interacting with. We are still talking about social communications. The audience also changes for various reasons. And, above all, because of the environment in which he lives.
4. Finally, the fourth element to watch out for is changing the environment or context, in the broadest sense of the term.

If a person wants to be a professional in the media environment, he is obliged to monitor, see, control and think about these four factors. Communication is always a race for the last carriage without the ability to grab the handle of a departing train. Changes happen very quickly, and we adapt to them just as quickly. At least they should.

As a result of information oversaturation, we have already created more than just a barrier in the selectivity of perception. It's not even a fence. This is a fortress wall around each of us, protecting us from this very information.

In my opinion, one of the problems that we face today as specialists in the field of communications is the paradigm that we, in a sense, continue to live in the world of media consumption. It seems to me that this concept is already outdated. Let me explain what I mean. The very term "media consumption" presupposes a special process of consuming a certain product.

Imagine consuming food. This is a process for which you need to get ready. Either you are preparing something for yourself, or you are going somewhere, or you are meeting with friends. This is a kind of ritual. You need to arrange the plates, you need to sit down, you need to take a fork, a spoon. And then after that we start to consume.

This is very similar to the nature of interaction with information, with the content of my youth. We knew for sure that, relatively speaking, at a certain point in time we had to go to the TV, sit down, turn it on. Today this is not at all the case. Interacting with information has become a natural process that does not require special training. Like breathing, we are not preparing to consume air.

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