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9.11.2010 Marketers must keep pace with media evolution

Marketers need a new "vocabulary" and understanding of media to thrive in the digital age, a study by McKinsey has argued. The consultancy suggested paid-for platforms such as TV and radio spots, billboards, print ads, sponsored search and online display have dominated modern media plans. "This market is far from dying; options for marketers are expanding exponentially with the emergence of more targeted cable TV, online display placement … online video and search marketing," it said. Owned media - like catalogues, websites, stores and email newsletters - is similarly still a vital part of the communications mix. A commonly-used third category is earned media, where consumers voluntarily promote goods and services through word of mouth, online reviews and alternative means.

Coffee house chain Starbucks has been particularly successful here, securing over 10m Facebook fans and encouraging customer feedback from the My Starbucks Idea branded online community. Honda, the Japanese automaker, also saw 630,000 people register to receive news regarding the launch of its CR-Z following a tie-up with Web 2.0 portal Mixi, resulting in 4,500 pre-orders and 10,000 first month sales. McKinsey stated two mediums must supplement the "paid, owned, earned" formula, one of which is "sold" media, in a simplistic form seeing retailers sell ad space to brands on their e-commerce hubs.

The second emerging trend is "hijacked media", when individuals, activists and equivalent groups spread negative opinions concerning a company or its products. Domino's experienced a PR crisis after a video showing two employees apparently contaminating food appeared on YouTube, while Greenpeace leveraged social media to question Nestlé's sourcing of palm oil.

New publishing models are inspiring parallel shifts, such as Nissan and Dell developing a talkshow hosted by Elvis Costello on the Sundance Channel, featuring "blended ads" and accessing a key demographic. Applications are also increasingly important, with eBay's Red Laser app displaying a list of auction prices if shoppers scan barcodes using a phone. "Data must be used more effectively to reach decisions and to apply them. Technology must make the spending of each dollar more efficient in the face of greater complexity."

B.L. 9.11.2010