Advertising Reinvented
I recently learnt about an expensive, failed experiment by a mobile service in the UK and thought that this would be a good time to articulate in words some of my thoughts about an approach to advertising that I think will become prevalent not too long from now.
In a nutshell, being a technology guy, marketing never occupied a lot of space in my head. I never enjoyed advertising, except for the truly good campaigns, and always felt brands were out there to get me. That changed significantly when I started my own company. Ok, now that I have a product, how do I get people to buy and use it? Oh yes, marketing and advertising. And then I started thinking more critically about marketing strategies and how to make it really work. Today I understand why it’s important but I still disagree with the way it’s done, for the most part.
But let’s go back to failed experiment. Blyk is a mobile service in the UK that since 2007 has been offering free calls and texts to 16- to 24-year-olds in return for mandatory advertising. They expected to reach 4.5 million people but only acquired 200,000 people so far. Their ambitious dreams are flowing down the drain fast.
You can read more about the Blyk story here, but what’s really interesting about the reason why the company failed is that even with something as compelling as free calls, users (mostly teenagers without much disposable income) were unwilling to take the advertising hit. The article points out that the response rates for the ads was high, probably indicating that the people who bought into the service are the same people who click on online banner ads and like to talk to telemarketers. Wow, that must truly be a small number of people.
To me, effective advertising gives you something back, and that something sticks around. It might be timely information, a product that enriches your life or pure entertainment, like a well-designed tv ad or message that brings a smile to your face and stays in your memory. Unfortunately, 95% of what we experience today is a bombardment of flashing lights, colors and sounds.
Forget banner ads. One of the approaches to advertising that I think points towards the future is what’s known as branded software. It’s still gaining momentum, but I think it’s a powerful trend. Here’s an example of how it works. I was recently perusing the iPhone App Store and came across an iPhone app by Weber called ‘On the Grill‘. It is beautifully designed and advertises the Weber brand by bringing you grilling recipes and tips. As the useful tool it is, it finds its way into people’s phones and stays there. Now is Weber in the mobile application development business? Of course not. This is software-as-marketing at work.
It’s going to take time for advertisers and marketers to realize the more technology-oriented opportunities that exist in the online world. Technologists with a marketing sixth sense are already eating their lunch, just look at Google Adwords. Relevant information in context. It has its flaws but it’s a step in the right direction.
AT&T keeps sending me brochures to convince me to sign up for their high-speed convergence product, U-verse. I am already a subscriber! With so much going on these days in the realm of entertainment and communications (the social media wave, branded software, mobile opportunities), when are the marketing execs investing in direct mailings going to retire? It’s about time.
Some people believe that the only way to stop the downward spiral newspapers find themselves in involves taking immediate and drastic action now. These people suggest that The New York Times abandon its print publications and become an online publication only. Sometimes I think many other industries should go through a similar reinvention and advertising is one of them.
12. August 2009 at 9:05 pm :
Advertising has such low utility (information value) that I’m not clear how a reinvention would work. The ad business is built on making you look, at something anything and hoping you buy. As people implicitly and explicitly express their interest for products and services online, I seriously doubt traditional ad are capable tapping into this.
13. August 2009 at 6:41 am :
I agree, this would take time. But it’s inevitable in my view. People don’t watch TV as much as they used to, few click on online banner ads. Companies will have to find new ways to reach and engage with possible customers. The landscape is changing rapidly.
13. August 2009 at 9:09 am :
Advertising and computer software/services are destined to collide in a big way. Social media has given new inroads to advertisers and the companies whose products they market. Think of the brilliant Whopper Sacrifice, and recently, services like the Coke URL shortener. (As an aside, URL shorteners are a cottage industry — witness the Brooklyn URL shortener, which as a side effect generates an up-to-the-minute rundown of Brooklyn-related posts/news.)
But it’s not just social media itself — emerging advertising companies, like The Deck, seem to be innovating at least in part because they aren’t encumbered by old advertising models or a history of print and TV ads. They’re finding new ways to put more traditional ads within social networking apps (e.g., Tweetie on the Mac, the beta of NetNewsWire, and several iPhone apps). By careful selection of ads and usually unintrusive placement (NNW is a BIG exception), they’re making inroads with people who would otherwise cringe at being force-fed advertisements. Not surprising that this creativity spun out of the incredible Coudal Partners.
15. August 2009 at 11:26 am :
I love that you brought up The Deck. It’s such a great example of advertising done in a respectful, interesting way. Form a committee of people who are widely admired for what they build and say. Then let them decide WHO gets to advertise on a network with (very) limited supply.