It’s funny, I’ve been enamoured with digital media for about five years now. However over the course of that period, my enthusiasm has been tempered by the practicalities associated with blogging, Twitter et al to the point that in the majority of cases I feel that digital should be part of an integrated communications campaign, particularly from an Irish perspective. Not everyone reads the papers, but not everyone has a Twitter account either. Different horses for different courses as a wiser man once said.
I have to take deep breathes so as I read heaps of commentary that has declared the world of traditional media dead and lavishes praise on campaigns that dipped their toe into the online world. It’s all very romantic and certainly gets its share of media attention, but it overlooks one key aspect – saturation.
Let’s just draw a line in the sand now. Traditional advertising isn’t ineffective because of the common complaints hurled at it. It is simply losing its influence because consumers are now bombarded with thousands of messages per day. But good, creative advertising still works. Just ask Lynx or Cadburys. Stand out from the crowd and companies will sell whatever it is that they pitching.
What really makes digital media attractive from a marketing perspective is that it is still relatively untapped. Now that it continues to capture media attention, companies want to be in that space. They might not be sure why they should be there, but it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes. Everyone is talking about it so it must be fashionable.
As John Naughton points out in his column in the Observer this weekend:
Twitter’s been around for ages, but it’s now gone “mainstream” – ie, been taken up by the brain-dead media, possibly because they’ve discovered that celebs have Twitter accounts. Jonathan Ross (@wossy in Twitterspeak) used it to send dispatches to his admirers during his banishment from the airwaves. I’ve just checked and he has 156,092 followers. But this horde is dwarfed by Stephen Fry’s (@stephenfry) 321,578.
This gives Mr Fry a certain amount of clout. A few months ago he pronounced on the BlackBerry Storm, a new phone being touted by Vodafone. “Shockingly bad,” he tweeted. “I mean embarrassingly awful. Such a disappointment. Rushed out unfinished. What a pity.” Given that many Twitterers are, like Mr Fry, gadget freaks, his tweets effectively shut down that corner of the market.
Suddenly companies are beginning to think that having a lot of Twitter followers might be a good idea.
What happens over the next two years will be amusing to watch. Countless brands will take to Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere and flood the digital world until we reach a saturation point. If a company’s pitch isn’t credible, then consumers will simply ignore it, no matter how much the brand is praised for engaging with their customers.
An insightful PR practitioner pointed out to me the other day, digital media is a bit like having a baby. Once you decide to enter the online world, you have to commit to looking after your presence and cleaning up after your mess. Like any communications campaign, it’s far more responsible to take a step back and think through your objectives, whether using digital media tactics will assist in achieving them and setting aside the correct resources to manage your presence.
Search
There are no recent tweets.
Categories
- Books (4)
- Buzz (3)
- E-PR (142)
- General (491)
- Ideas (7)
- Personal (77)
- PR in Ireland (87)
- Resources (5)
- Technology & PR (6)
Archives
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
An excellent post. In our work as a creative agency we always stress the idea above everything else. The idea should suggest the media choice and mix. It is unfortunate that we have a “Digital”, “Traditional” divide in the industry because we would no more suggest a “Digital-only” campaign than we would a “TV-only” campaign. You use any and all relevant tools available to achieve the objective. You wouldn’t cook with only one ingredient… Unless you’re making hot milk!
It’s all about integration, certain products are never going to suit the likes of Facebook and simply staking a claim in the digital media world is never going to be enough. There has to be a reason behind interaction. However, I have to admit the exposure twitter is getting at present in the Irish media will certainly push more companies into using the service, it’s often the case ‘everybody else is doing it so why don’t we’, which is exactly why you shouldn’t be doing it.
Great post Piaras – couldn’t agree more! People do very easily forget that, while member number may be huge, not everyone partakes in the use of social media. Many people of a certain demographics do not use social media at all.
Nice post. People are certainly more excusing of bad online campiagns than traditional ones just because they are online. Online really is in a honeymoon period for a lot of new entrants. Measurement, Quality, Competition and ROI checks will probably put more pressure on making sure that online campaigns get the same vigour as traditional ones.
You’re talking a lot of sense there. There is a place for all and many forms of media – new and established. It is the end of the beginning for new media rather than the beggining of the end for the more established forms. There is plenty of space and scope for all… the key point is that made in your last paragraph – planners need to think.
Agree completely Piaras.
I’m a fan of online but I’m not planning to stop making tv ads any time soon. All the evidence suggests that for mass reach and fast impact, tv is still a very strong bet.
Some creative we see online is bad. And some creative we see in every media is bad. But I also think the real opportunity for online brands is not advertising, but the closeness and transparency good brands can give to their customers. Like signal37 having their founder’s email address on their homepage. I keep hearing agencies pitch ideas of doing facebook page takeovers to support our campaign. I don’t hear many of them (Brando are the exception) suggest what we do with the page when the rest of the campaign goes down.
P
But exactly so. We’re having our glorious opportunity now to see how this fancy new medium of ‘Television’ will be the ruination of radio and newspapers. There are new rules of engagement, to be sure, and the JNRR/JNLR models are vastly different to PPC and brand engagement in a social medium, but people will still be people, boredom will still be boredom and good ideas will still be just that. I do like the ‘having a baby’ analogy. So much online work stinks that it fits perfectly.