The agency business calls for a more Zen-like approach to plan development with each passing day. That is to say that we are seeing a need to make sure that every strategic plan we develop is explored with the thought in mind, right from the get go, of how to maximize web marketing, and those “new media” that make sense. At Steele this includes, of course, social media campaigns.
The latest trend in marketing today is certainly about “becoming one” with a particular universe of potential customers. To do this effectively we must merge traditional and interactive market groups into one exciting and vibrant creative ensemble.
There are some considerations however. As we know new media has been evolving for some time. In fact some new media isn’t even “new” anymore. And the pace of introduction is way ahead of adoption. Many consumers have yet to move from dial-up to high-speed; still fewer have advanced to mobile Internet, wireless access and video-on-demand. Only a select (mostly high-income) group does the full-on technology thing, embracing every new gadget and gimmick — and actually using these gadgets regularly.
Yet the ad industry (or perhaps our clients?) reacts to every blip on the media radar as if we must all immediately decode the latest message from the enemy to save ourselves. I don’t think things are quite that bad. Here is why.
Blogging, podcasting, video downloads, viral email, mobile ads, et. al., are not proven advertising and marketing techniques for reaching even first adopters. Some have shown themselves to be anti-marketing (like blogging), and can backfire disastrously.
Most clients don’t need every new media trick in the bag to market their wares to their customers. Many of these “tricks” aren’t even appropriate for their businesses, let alone measurably effective. Some can be outright damaging.. What sounds cool and hip can go badly wrong when tied to the wrong brand in the wrong media.
At Steele we continue to do what we have always done — serve clients by acting as filters to block out those media that do not fit client strategies, or are of dubious value to client brands. When we stop filtering and just hop on every bandwagon that rolls by, we cease to bring value to our working relationships. And those missteps encourage clients to devalue us, demand fee cuts and eventually tell us to get lost.