Survival Guide

While watching the Superbowl and the Oscars this year (www.mimieo.com), I was interested in noting how many advertisers drove to the web to continue their stories and campaigns. This, to me, seemed to be a big improvement from years past. Yet some advertisers are still not getting it–in fact, some are not even including their web address in the supers or under the tag. So for all the buzz about integration and synergy between offline and online, there are still the misses that occur in this era when most agencies tout 360-degree marketing.

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I was a little under the weather this past week and so I spent more time than usual in the Webkinz World with my six year old. A fascinating place. I was interested in the marketing model, the convergence of the on line and offline world, the user experience and the depth of things to do on the site. He was interested in the $800 football bed for his frog “Greenie.” In amongst the thoughts of how they came up with what games to push, who developed them and how they were tested, I found myself asking - “why didn’t I think of this” (along with most every other parent who has visited this place). He was wondering why he could only buy one type of truck for Greenie and thinking he would like a fourth to add to his collection. (more…)

I’m not always a big fan of online banner advertising. They certainly have their place in the mix. But display banners often try to entice people to stop doing what they are doing on the page (reading content, checking email, interacting with other users, etc.) and click through to an advertiser’s web site. And depending on the audience trying to do anything more invasive, like over-the-page ads, can be found to actually annoy and frustrate users. That’s not really what advertisers should be setting out to do. We need to strive to be more innovative and relevant.

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My Top 5 short-list of what a client can bring to the table to strengthen the agency relationship (in no particular order):

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In the many client meetings I attend each week, I often hear the phrase “we need to get on YouTube” or “we need a MySpace page”. Getting a brand into these popular online properties is often seen as akin to getting past the velvet rope that separates the popular kids from the rest of the world. But uploading brand content to these and other social networks needs as much of a strategy and objective behind it as any other marketing initiative.

Knowing the target audience is crucial in determining if these networks are right for your brand—does your product appeal to that younger, more internet-agile consumer? How often do they watch video online? Do you know what they do when they go online? Taking a strong look (ie. research) at how your consumer behaves within this medium is just as important as understanding how and why they read Women’s Day or watch Desperate Housewives.

Because most of the social networks require constant supervision and updating (more so than many websites or microsites that a brand would launch), having plans, and funds, in place for ongoing content development often resembles the plot points of a television or movie script. Telling a story, creating character, working with the variable ebb and flow of entertaining commentary can make or break your presence—the more you plan and create, the better you will be.

We recently learned one of our TV spots created for MTD’s Cub Cadet brand was one of the five least TiVo’d (read: least deleted) spots of their most recent tracking period. To me, that’s really exciting and significant. It proves a big hairy audacious theory: if we create great ads, whether TV, digital, print, whatever, people will actually watch them! This might be most true when it comes to online advertising where there is possibly more clutter and bad advertising than any other medium.

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It occurred to us that a lot of marketers (including us) use the “I” word but often in very different ways. We use the word so often that sometimes we don’t realize we are using it. I asked around for a definition of Integration and heard the following: “It’s all marketing functions working together”; “It’s a communication that works across all channels” and perhaps my favorite “I know it when I see it”. Let’s have some integration and everyone will be happy…YES!..integration.

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