Social Media and Interactivity are Driving the Communication Reform
Dec 20
002180.forrester.interactivemarketingprojections
Hot Business Issues in four recent posts, Nov 21st and 14th and October 19th and 15th, presented new prevailing views of the changes we are facing affecting the importance and role of digital and traditional advertising. The subject created a lot of interest and heated discussions and on many occasions opposing views were put forward. The recent study and forecast for interactive media constructed by Forrester, sheds some further light on this argument and points to changes and what we might expect to experience in the near future.
The main conclusions can be summarized as follows:
Interactive media will further cannibalize traditional media.
This trend will be intensified because of poor economic conditions,
the boom in interactive customer relationships,
the increased power the marketing is gaining within the organization,
and the prevailing belief and proof that interactive marketing works.
As a consequence, only in the US interactive marketing expenditure will more than double exceeding $55 billion by 2014. The same robust increases will be realized around the world with investments in e-mail marketing, search marketing, on line display ads, social media and mobile marketing taking over substantial parts of the marketing budgets.
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Dec 21 at 20:39
On-LIne & Social media will fragment the market, few companies will go for the multi-million dollar campaigns anymore. But there will be vastly more scope for the smaller campaigns aimed either at specific socio-ethnic groups, or a strictly regional market.
I am pinning my future prospects firmly to this philosophy, by specialising in on-line advertising in the sub 1 Million dollar market.
Posted by Gavin Bryan-Tansley
Dec 21 at 20:47
From SamWaltz@SamWaltz.com 302.777.4774 Wilmington, DE 19807.2129 http://www.SamWaltz.com http://www.RLSassociates.com
Dimitris, I agree completely with your observations, although I’d emphasize that more of it will be about ENGAGEMENT for which COMMUNICATION is the Medium of Exchange, the Lubricant. And, it can be accomplished for Pennies on the Dollar of Traditional Media / PR / Advertising…
1. At http://www.PRSA.org , the world’s largest Professional Society of PR professionals and Business Communicators, where I’m a past National President & Board Chair (1999), at our International Conference in San Diego in November, 2/3rds of the presentations this year seemed to be about advancing organizational goals with Social Media & Engagement, up from virtually zero presentations on the topic just a couple years ago.
2. http://www.Amazon.com/Tribes-We-Need-You-Lead/dp/1591842336
In his great book TRIBES, author / marketing guru Seth Godin http://www.SethGodin.com/sg/ writes about the creation of Cyber Communities as the great new Marketing / Awareness-Bldg / Engagement-Bldg tool of the future, perhaps even the present, since 2010 will be the year of its emergence.
3. Via ListServes, and in other venues, we’re seeing COMMUNITY MANAGER evolve as the next great PR / Communications job specialty, where the Cyber Community is created and hosted by such a Communications Professional, the COMMUNITY MANAGER, who makes certain that value is added in the community, and that whoever organizes and sponsors it enjoys some strategic benefit from that leadership. http://www.AimClearBlog.com/2009/04/05/Social-Media-Community-Manager-Job-Description/
4. http://www.CommunitiesOnLine.biz (COL), Via a Greater Philadelphia-based Strategic Partner we’re using, where Kevin McCann is the principal, (610) 842-4238 , KevinM@CommunitiesOnLine.biz . We’ve found this COL platform for the creation of Cyber Communities to be ideal around which and on which to build and engage Stakeholder Communities.
Kevin’s firm COL seems to be the state-of-the-art leader in a not-very-crowded niche of custom “Private Network” Social Media platforms. COL is created based on IP (Intellectual Property) built by $4 million in venture capital last year out of the Philadelphia Science Center area on campus at the University of Pennsylvania.
5. For illustration, contrast Private Network – a network that looks / feels like both a Facebook and a website, but with richer features – that’s built just for a School, non-profit Association or Club, a Mommy Blogger network on a particular topic or region, a Corporate Car Pool, etc.–vs. a Universal Network like Facebook or LinkedIn, where your profile must by necessity be universal, since it’s shared with Family, Friends, old School Buddies, Drinking Buddies, CoWorkers, Club Members, Neighbors, etc.
Ultimately, it’s my view, as someone who’s labored in this External Affairs / Stakeholder Relations / Reputation Management field for more than 30 years, at the DuPont Co. first and since 1993 in my own firm, more work of Marketing / Communications / PR / Advertising Firms will be built on counseling people on the creation of Cyber Communities, where the PR person effectively becomes the COMMUNITY MANAGER / LEADER, reaching and building / hosting a dialogue that benefits the “sponsor,” her / his employer, organization, company, not-for-profit, whatever.
6. And for Firms / Agencies / Consultants, this also gives such Firms a chance to go to the clients with whom you work, or with whom you’d like to work, and “engage” them on the Social Media topic. Interestingly, too, COL (I don’t know about others) uses a ReSeller program (akin to Commissionable Media that Ad Agencies may sell / place) that can generate great incremental revenue on each sale, not to mention the consulting revenue from communications programs that Agencies would build around the Social Media technology implementation.
Posted by Sam Waltz
Dec 22 at 10:44
Dear Dimitri,
Your thought provoking article encouraged some additional research. This highlights a steady decline in print advertising in the US by around 18% (2008 – 06/2009). Most of this appears to have been invested in digital and online media which has also declined in 2009 albeit marginally, by 1.8% largely attributed to the economic crisis. Newspapers have been affected the most but not all with huge losses reported. There are, however, notable examples where digital media have been embraced in a timely manner through the development of viable online alternatives. Examples include The New York Times and The WSJ.
What seems to impact media spending is the ever increasing need to optimise marketing investment. In the US market, digital media together with targeted TV advertising facilitate a greater ROI than the traditional methods.
It has been well documented that consumer habits in key markets have changed because of the Internet. The increasing number of interconnected devices, wider participation in social networks and the accuracy in consumer targeting all contribute towards more digital spending.
You know better than me that advertising is about achieving the right balance in the types of media utilised so that the target is reached efficiently. It is now unlikely to consider a campaign that excludes digital media, in favour of the integrated model that includes traditional media as the two are, still, inexplicably linked.
Regards, John Mantikas
Dec 29 at 07:31
Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.
Thanks
Worker
Feb 15 at 01:30
Greatings, Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
SuperSonic
Feb 16 at 14:58
I believe that the only thing that has change in consumer’s habits after social media boom is that they can express their “choices” not only at the supermarket but also in words and mostly in action.
Let’s take for example Heineken’s funs. They buy Heineken every time they drink beer. Now they have the opportunity to write and talk about Heineken using social media.
Heineken as most brands do, has values. Up to now Heineken was talking to them about its values. Now Heineken has the opportunity to discuss those values with them.
People are connected with those values. They are followers of those values. So using facebook for example they can talk with Heineken about those values.
That’s the only difference. The interactivity. All else are still Marketing and Advertising.
Many Marketeers believe that involving people let’s say at an advertising spot is social media or it’s interesting for the consumers. I don’t believe so. First of all it’s not social media. It’s advertising and promotion and they know it.
But if Heineken gives its followers some benefits, or discuss with them values, or give them the feeling that they are connected to their favorite brand then that’s social media and Marketing at the same time.
There are thousands out there who to feel that their favorite brand knows them… so why brands still talking about themselves and not talking to them?