In 1903, Elias St. Elmo Lewis coined one of the most important marketing frameworks: AIDA. It has stood the test of time, and has helped many marketers more strategically plan their campaigns. AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. But is AIDA intrinsically flawed, or at least no longer relevant for today’s more complex marketplace?

The genius of AIDA is that a marketer need only activate each phase of AIDA, and the campaign will be successful.

• Attention: Look over here!
• Interest in your solution: Here are the benefits of using us.
• Desire: I should do something about it
• Action: OK, I will transact.

Contrast this with the Trust Curve – a competing, more modern framework developed by my firm Pinetree Advisors over 20 years ago:

• Awareness: I am aware of my problem, and I am aware of you.
• Preference: I prefer you, I think you can take care of it. This is the initial seed of loyalty.
• Trial: Examples of Trial include trying on a suit before purchase, or test-driving a car.
• Commitment: The contract is signed and the transaction takes place. If the experience is a positive one, then loyalty is locked in, resulting in repeat business. Loyalty also drives advocacy, resulting in even more business, but this time from others.

AIDA assumes that after the need is crystallized (Desire) the user immediately acts. But what action is the model referring to? Is it trial? If so, why not explicitly say so? If it is purchase, then the critical intermediate step of trial is missing.

The fundamental flaw with AIDA, however, is that it is transactional and campaign-oriented. In contrast, the underlying premise of the Trust Curve is the growing relationship between two parties, and the activities required to improve that relationship.

Is AIDA dead? Not exactly, and it’s better than nothing. But it may have had its day.

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