The car you can't ignore

Chevy shows all those Web 2.0 preachers and social media fanatics that mass advertising is still alive. Spend gazillions of dollars and you can ensure that blind people will see and deaf people will listen: Homepage takeovers, commercials after commercials, billboards, print: you name it.
Chevy achieved their goal: The Malibu can't be ignored. Just like taxes and death.
Is mass advertising so desperate that not being ignored is now a goal? Pathetic.

The New Advertising Outlet: Your Life

We've read this story many times before: Brand not happy with traditional advertising, moving money into digital marketing and social media. But I was surprised about the bluntness of Trevor Edwards, Nike's corporate VP for Global Brand and Category Management, as quoted in yesterday's NY Times story:

“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.”

I'm sure yesterday's morning coffee didn't taste that good for publishing executives after reading this sharp comment.

Web 2.0 - How to do it right

Seth Godin has a great post about the new world of marketing and how organizations have to adopt to succeed in the Web 2.0 world (Or whatever you want to call it.)

He writes:

"Organizations don’t fail because the Web and the New Marketing don’t work. They fail because the Web and the New Marketing work only when applied to the right organization. New Media makes a promise to the consumer. If the organization is unable to keep that promise, then it fails.

New Marketing—whipped cream and a cherry on top—isn’t magical. What’s magical is what happens when an organization uses the New Marketing to become something it didn’t used to be—it’s not just the marketing that’s transformed, but the entire organization. Just as technology propelled certain organizations through the Industrial Revolution, this new kind of marketing is driving the right organizations through the digital revolution.

You can become the right organization. You can align your organization from the bottom up to sync with New Marketing, and you can transform your organization into one that thrives on the new rules."

Too many organizations still apply the old rules and structures to their marketing approach. Seth points out that if Web 2.0 strategies and tactics don't work, you should have a long, hard look at your organization and not put the dunce cap on your Web 2.0 strategy.

If your company had the right structure and organization 10 years, chances are very good you have to adjust today. Or better yesterday.

Media Multitasking

Luth Research just released a report about media multitasking: We seem to sleep less than the needed 7 hours and spend an increasing amount of hours (around 20 hours a week) on consuming media simultaneously.

"On average, 17 percent of our time awake -- approximately 19.80 hours per week -- is spent using two or more media simultaneously, according to the latest quarterly findings (Quarter 1, 2007) from Luth Research's IndicatorEDG™, an online study surveying more than 5,000 respondents in the U.S. The media in question included all mass media (e.g., TV, radio, Internet) and personal electronic devices (e.g., cell phone, MP3 player, wireless email device)."

Employed people spend less time media multitasking while the unemployed, retired or homemakers tend to raise the average. And in the center of all this multitasking is TV:

"Watching TV was named by nearly half of the respondents to be what they typically do
when working on the Internet or email through a computer. One in five people have their TV on while using their cell phone to make phone calls. TV seems to be a natural fit to co-own consumer time and space with other print media, as 20 percent of the respondents cited TV as the medium they were also using when reading a newspaper, a magazine, or a book."

And this is the most interesting part:

"Compared to the 60 percent of the respondents who spent less than 20 hours per week on media multi-tasking, those who spent 20 or more hours were found to be less happy in general about their life. Specifically, people spending 20 or more hours media multitasking expressed a lower average rating of happiness with their work, family and romantic lives.
Furthermore, the high consumption media multitaskers (those who spent 20 or more hours per week multitasking) were more likely to say they never had enough time and they experienced a higher level of stress. No doubt, quality of life is determined by many diverse elements. However, as we may want to pause and ask ourselves: Are we driving ourselves to be less happy?"

Media Consumption has become one of my focal points when thinking about the future of media and how emerging media can engage people in a more meaningful way.

Clearly, multitasking is a time waster and sometimes even dangerous. Research shows that people waste/lose up to 2 hours a day. And, when multi-tasking while driving a 2,000 lb. torpedo (car), it can turn into a more significant event, as in an accident and possibly fatal.

Focusing on media, multitasking will continue to be a major issue for measuring media effectiveness and media value: You're researching cars on Edmunds while watching Lost. Are you completely ignoring commercials or are there instances where they attract your attention? How about the ads on Edmunds? Are they of any value while you watch Lost, do they leave any impression or just a waste of money?

At this point, we don't know. In the meantime, we need to more precise with our messaging. And more entertaining. Only outstanding creative that has a clear message with cut through the clutter. No matter what channel you're deploying.

Is this where we're heading?

Mass media and mass transportation have a lot in common: They treat the customer like sheep, don't offer any personalization and push people more and more into niche efforts.

It's tough enough to travel today but it's even tougher to endure the attitude of flight attendants in planes and conductors in trains: All of them seem to think we have the IQ of a guinea pig. That's the only explanation I have for the way I'm being talked to in planes or trains: 'Go there.' 'Don't do this.' 'What's wrong with you?' (I was asked this question by a flight attendant when I requested a bottle of water...)

Mass transportation suffers the same fate than mass media: They treat the customers like sheep, don't offer any personalization and push people more and more into niche efforts. Amtrak will never make it because they don't have real competitors. United and American have a slight chance because they have to deal with Virgin America, JetBlue and more competitors to come.
Mass Media on the other hand has done a remarkable job of a turnaround. The upfront was very successful, TV viewing is up and all the networks seem to be leaning back and enjoying the change from insignificant to invulnerable.

Crises have peaks and valleys. Mass Media enjoys a temporary peak. A valley is next. Final destination: Death Valley?

The slow death of Mass Media

40 years ago, an advertiser could spend a few million a year and reach almost 85% of the audience.
That model died before the Internet came along - 300 channels and video tapes started the trend of not being able to reach the majority of people with a small marketing budget.

Today it costs you at least $25+M for a week to reach maybe 50% of the audience. Most likely you're fooling yourself into thinking that you actually reached them. Meanwhile, they are busy on youtube, flickr, email, bittorrent, itunes and gazillion other sites. And when the computer rests next to them, they are busy watching DVD's, playing Xbox games, fast forwarding through commercials and they are very competent in avoiding you.

Sure, it's still possible to reach 85% of the market and get your brand out there. If you're new to the market and want to utilize mass media, better have your checkbook ready: It will cost up to $250 million just to get your brand really noticed.

There was once a pipedream that most of the money will move to digital media because that's where the people are. And it used to be easy because they were on Yahoo!, MSN, Google, MySpace. Even these times are ending rapidly.
The time of Internet mass reach is about to end. We saw the exodus from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook. And that's just the beginning. Mass sites will be part of each media plan but the real game is in high quality niche targeted options. Combine this with a relevant message that can be spread, linked and shared, and you have a winner on your hand.

Social Networking - Old Hat

Our brains were wired 2,000,000 years ago when we were hunters and gatherers. We sat around the camp fire, exchanged good and bad experiences, tried to keep the other tribes out.

The old media model allowed for brands to interrupt this human need and ensure that the age-old conversations were disrupted.

The fall of the TV empire and demise of mass media altogether allows people to go back to focus on their needs and desires. And Web 2.0 is just the catalyst to make it easier for customers to talk about brands/products and allows for a quick connection to a brand/product.

All the Web 2.0 of this world won't help your brand if you don't build your brand correctly. Web 2.0 supports the brand. It doesn't build it.