Stumbled upon a new IBM research executive brief titled, ”Beyond advertising – Choosing a strategic path to the digital consumer’, which as IBM adds, is a follow-up to their 2007 document, more provocatively titled, ‘The end of advertising as we know it’!
Page 3 of the brief states, “Digital formats such as social media, online video, mobile communications, gaming and advanced TV enable companies to simultaneously meet transactional and brand-building objectives….Consumer adoption of new distribution formats â?? Consumer behavior has changed forever: They are more digital-savvy, willing to provide personal information in return for perceived value, and increasingly ready for permission-based advertising”
With that tone in place, there is no mention of ‘relationships’ anywhere in this document. Agreed, this is about new marketing methods and finding definite ROI in marketing using digital forms – but missing the relationship building part with new-age digi-savvy consumers seems like a glaring omission.
So, is it only about creating the next big viral and assume people will buy your product (in droves?) because they’re impressed with that 30 second YouTube clip? Aren’t consumers getting smarter too (besides digi-savvy, that is!)? Don’t they blog/ tweet about their opinions on brands more vocally, now that they’ve found their voice online – however small their audience is? We always have Google to unearth these micro-communities.
Page 4 of the brief says, “In response, media and entertainment (M&E) companies need to start moving beyond traditional advertising: the scenario of the future is consumer centricity. Becoming consumer centric requires a combination of granularity â?? the ability to target and reach desired consumers while measuring results â?? with cross-platform integration. Yet content owners, media distributors and agencies have not sufficiently responded to these changes, partly due to significant hurdles. For example, new format uncertainty (as with advanced TV and mobile) continues to hinder investment decisions, and companies will need to plan for the future based on their current capabilities, priorities and evolving format maturity.”
While the consumer centricity part seems on target – there’s nothing to denote that it also means interactivity. Or conversation marketing – as against pushing messages. The first half is right – the consumer is far more empowered. The second, according to this report, goes on a tangent about formats – while I suppose they should be addressing the part on how brands now need to act like the consumers’ friend, say, on Facebook or on Twitter, inviting the consumer to share his side of the story rather than trying to engage him in yet another promotion, with just the format changed!
Download the full, 24 page brief here – IBM – ‘Beyond Advertising’ (PDF, 296 KB)