One of the big areas of speculation from the mainstream 'people in the know' is where advertising and marketing is heading online. It appears the big media players are all fighting it out to create massive ad networks, buy buying numerous media properties/networks, to supply the media agencies and please the publishers at the same time.
In a very good article by John Battelle today discussing the growth & creation of ad networks, he mentions the power of 'conversational marketing' and how big companies have yet to figure out how to make the most of it and make it scalable, especially in relation to building brands online.
I was watching TV tonight and saw an advert for Shredded Wheat cereal;
and realised that some times getting the right message across is very difficult.
In this Shredded Wheat example, all I can see when I watch the advert is the ad agency sat in the big office coming up with ideas on whiteboards, not the people talking. I know it's not real and I'm not engaged with it. I can see why the idea of various people talking about how great the various features of the product could be good. Yes, it will work for a lot of people. Unfortunately I've become so involved/cynical about the whole 'mass media' advertising process that all I see are story boards and people sat in big offices coming up with lines to use on the advert.
The use of aged people = targeting the different demographics, very clever. The fact there are no artificial flavourings or colours = appeal to the health conscious consumer etc etc.
Big ad agencies are very used to creating adverts in this way, as pointed out by Mr Battelle. However can the message be conveyed in a better through conversational media and channels? The use of this new medium, conversational marketing, where communication is to two way, rather than one, is a big change and one which will appeal to different audiences. But with more and more ad spend going online and more and more time being spent online (up to six hours a week), how long is going to be before companies and agencies 'get' that broadcasting your messages isn't the best way to communicate?
Listening is becoming more important than ever, especially online, and companies who 'get' that, will succeed online.
0 comments:
Post a Comment