 Options and Complexity Multiply
According to Hanne Tuomisto-Inch, technology is profoundly changing the media landscape: the internet has provided another alternative to the one-to-many model of broadcasting of old and revolutionized the way we research everyday or business purchases, entertain ourselves or keep in touch with our friends and family. But it’s not only the internet that is being changed by technology. Digital billboards in the out-of-home environment are enabling a response element via Bluetooth technology, while at the same time PVR devices are causing a stir in TV by allowing people to fast-forward the advertising. Mobile is being heralded as the next big “thing”, the third screen that is due to be more powerful and prominent than the PC/internet. And the potential is there: there are 3x more mobile phones in the world than there are PCs. Advertisers are experimenting with GPS enabled SMS advertising whereby people going passed their shop on the street are being sent promotional messages.
What does this all mean for marketers and advertisers alike? Technology promises to provide increased options to target the people that you are actually interested in marketing to, whether it’s based on behavioural, self-expressed, location-based etc data. There is however a danger of abusing the newly-found abilities and the backlash experienced by Facebook for the use of their behavioural Boomerang technology is a warning sign for all. Permission-based marketing practices should not be forgotten and even though the initial response rates and results from more intrusive (even though targeted) marketing practices may be exciting, it’s not a viable long-term model for advertising. Consumers have the ability to spread the news of their discontent faster than ever before through the use of blogs and forums. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the new technologies are bad or that they should not be tested, just that common sense and traditional marketing practices should be applied to how and when they are used.
An even bigger challenge for marketers will be to change their advertising to match the new, targeted, permission-based marketing landscape. People don’t have to watch your TV ads anymore, and online publishers will also most likely abandon the model of pre-roll, interrupt-driven advertising models in the future. If you can now reach micro-segments of your target audience, you can’t give all of them the same message as you did in the one to many broadcasting environment.
The complexity for marketers is multiplied as the creative thinking of old becomes obsolete. Advertising needs to become useful or entertaining to the audience, more like content itself. Engagement will be the key measurement tool for success and especially the quality of the conversations that marketers create around their campaigns and brands as a result. CPQE, cost per qualified engagement, is how we all need to start thinking about marketing now. Contact: hanne.tuomisto-inch@b1.com
GO TO: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] |
