Finally, the product is developed–the toolbox is perfect & now we need to get the word out in a BIG way. But, what works best? 1. TV 2. print 3. outdoor 4. online media 5. specatcular POS 6. other?? or is it 1. POS 2. Print 3. Tactical TV…etc.? What do we do with all this marketing spend? What is the right choice for a given brand? AND, what is the right product to push in the brand portfolio in the first place? How can we prove that the ROI on this new and cool activity is higher? CHOICES! Marketing (and life for that matter) is all about choices. The tyranny of Cascading choices & priorities.
I wonder when marketers will get past just using the term online media when talking cascading choices. That’s part of the challenge. Because when we hit the online media part, the landscape is so varied now that choices again need to be made within that media about how to allocate the spend…1. Viral (+seeding)2. Classic Online Media 3. Adwords 4.In-Game advertising 5. New areas like Joost or YouTube? or is it the other way around? What is the markeing objective again? I am lost now :-). I think I remember Joseph Jaffe talking about this challenge of choosing these multiple “colors” in the online spectrum in a blog post somewhere (Joe please correct me or remind me where we can find this discussion). Right now the online area is wide open with an incredible range of choices exploding all around marketers.
Web 2.0, digital agencies, online media consultants…find ways to keep it simple & please bring more case studies. Show nice easy, simple graphs demonstrating ROI (or at least something demonstrating some type of return). Have a plan in mind that fits the brand. Don’t overwhelm brand folks by showing tons of new cool things (or if you do just stick to one) when presenting your holistic online plans. Stay simple, limit the confusion, focus on the objectives…all the stuff you already know, but sometimes forget because this space is so interesting.
Ryan Jones is interested in marketing and good causes. He currently works in Global Brand Management at Procter & Gamble and resides in Geneva, Switzerland.
2 Comments
As you know, it’s a struggle coming up with metrics to demonstrate ROI. I think the true value of leveraging social media bears itself out in the long term. And yet this highlights another problem. Traditional web metrics (cost per click /impression) tend to focus on the short term value of online (i.e. banners) campaigns. I think this expectation has been transferred to social media. But it begs another question: How do you measure a stronger bond with a consumer? Its the question that keeps us social media geeks up at night.
Tks. Great point. We should probably call out consumer loyalty as a key objective on most of these programs and stop worrying so much about awareness and trial.