Josh:

Hey Fred, I was recently doing my daily perusal of The New York Times online (in my infinite quest to look cultured and smart) and came across this article: “Is the Day of Tiny Ads Finally Here?” In a nutshell, the author surmises that due to recent technology introductions – like the iPad and the Droid – marketers will begin to spend more dollars on mobile advertising, specifically purchasing mobile banner ad units.

Are we about to go through this again? Haven’t we learned from a decade-plus of web banner ads that the banner ad unit is a flawed advertising vehicle? It is disruptive in the wrong way, pulling consumers from the content they seek and dropping them elsewhere; and is often hijacked by marketers pushing messages unrelated to the desired content consumers have sought. As marketers, we’d be doing a disservice to advertisers if we tried to repackage this marketing tactic. We are still in the relative infancy of mass adoption of mobile devices. We still have the opportunity to get it right.

I think the author is missing the true advantages that mobile technologies offer marketers. As we move forward, shouldn’t the keyword be VALUE? Instead of “ads,” we need to help our clients develop applications and tools that offer value to consumers – that help augment their lifestyles, their day-to-day. This idea of finding a way to evolve web banner ads into mobile banner ads seems crazy to me. What do you think?

Fred:

You’ve got a good point Josh, but I think what the “analysis” from the article is trying to say is that the banner ad is not really good enough for the iPad and the Droid, and that marketers may need to invent new ad units. Of course, this ignores the fact that I already have tiny ads on my mobile device – there’s one for Target, The Home Depot, Sears, Amazon.com, ESPN, The New York Times, NPR, FedEx, my bank and my insurance company. These are the apps that you alluded to above.

And if we view apps as ads, then what’s missing is not only the value piece that you mention, but RELEVANCE and the ability to bridge the divide between my traditional online behavior and my mobile app usage. Right now these two ways that I interact with brands exist mostly in silos which misses a huge opportunity to give me the most relevant and targeted content in both channels.

Instead of inventing a new ad unit, marketers and media companies might be better served by thinking up a way to integrate these channels. The companies that come out on top won’t be the ones that find the perfect tiny ad, it’ll be the ones that figure out how to connect all the ways we already interact with their brand.

Related articles

• Predictions for 2010 part 3: Mobile advertising needs to grow up or ship out! (mobiletribe.com)
• Giving Mobile Ads a Makeover (online.wsj.com)
• Mobile Execs Less Optimistic (Except About Apps) (mediapost.com)

Throughout 2009, professionals on both the client and agency side have been scrambling to make sense of a new marketing reality – tighter budgets, mobile computing, empowered consumers – and get their heads around its implications relative to strategy, creative, media and budgets.

A few of the answers are coming into focus.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER

In this whitepaper, “Conversation-Centric Marketing: Making Sense of the New Social Order,” Media Logic cuts through the confusion to present a new model for marketing. We outline the radical changes that have occurred in traditional client-agency-customer hierarchies; suggest a framework to help guide strategy and integrate traditional and social media; and offer a concise list of suggestions for how the client/agency relationship must evolve in order to take full advantage of the opportunities presented.

Media Logic welcomes all comments.

The first path is a conservative one, on which larger entrenched institutions create barriers to protect their position and power. The second path is a bit more comforting to both the old and new guard, as it is the path of change. We accept change, we compromise, we embrace the delicate uncertainties, etc. About the most painful aspect of this path is the idea that agencies, and the businesses they look to serve, will be forced to learn new practices. In doing so, disciplines will be forced to share more significant budget lines with areas of emerging opportunity.

The third and final path he describes – “digital dreaming” – is terrifying because you can’t control it, define it, predict it or balance a budget on it at the moment. It is a path that mandates we leave behind the old rules and realities that have defined marketing to completely embrace the promise of technological possibility. It is the path that forces you to let go completely of any lingering hesitation caused by fear of change. (Sound pretty familiar? This third path is akin to the year we have just experienced.)

I’ll take the third path, though – not because I am excessively driven by unmanaged risk, but because it speaks more to the idea of creative thinking. Critical problem solving deployed to deliver practical solutions, as opposed to the stale waffling of bartering that often plagues marketing – especially in the media planning realm.

Now, keep in mind, Dr. Fredericks’ book was published way back in 2007. At that time Twitter was only recently conceived, Facebook was potty training, and Apple was preparing to unleash the first iPhone on gadget junkies. Fredericks clearly states that his basis of affection for the third path is its being based on search. Yes, search, as in algorithms, Google and Bing. The content that we crave, know, seek and love will no longer be defined by its house but instead by what he terms its “essence” – whether it is text, video or audio. How will we get this essence? He proposes it will be based on voluntarily engagement in a new stream of content distribution, via both pay-for and ad-supported delivery methods.

It is a great hypothesis and, to some extent, one that has already begun to emerge as not only possibility but reality. We see it both in paid keyword search and behavioral ad delivery models via online ad networks. You type “social media marketing” into Google search and you get a stream of data that the engine tries to quantify as valuable to you. In the process, without any breakdown of the organic information that is returned, I or any number of media planning wonks will beg your indulgence to consider clicking on our paid sponsor link.

We also see it in direct content purchase via iTunes or in accessing data on Hulu. It is built on the notion that advertising is no longer dependent on the content alone to reach vaguely identifiable large packs of humans. Instead, the consumer’s intent, actions and behavior can correlate to drive relevancy of messages. It strips away the notion of the nightly news reaching adults age 35 – 54 who might have some propensity to be in the market for various things like detergent or a car. It strips it completely bare. Then it attempts to identify the consumer’s needs and potential interests based on his most immediate intentions or request for information queries.

Imagine it outside of a search engine for a moment. What if you turned on your entertainment hard drive to tap into the latest episode of Breaking Bad. You can either choose to pay $2.99 for an ad-free viewing or a free view with content support. Say you already drop $45 a month for broadband access; you might be inclined to choose content support. A menu pops up and you are given a set of category options based on your preset interests and businesses willing to pay $2.99 for that interest.

Where the wheels on this bus go “squeak, squeak, SCREECH” is that while Fredericks talks of empowered consumers with fervor, he misses the opportunity of what can only be defined at the moment as audience search. Essentially, do not wait for your customers to stumble over to you based on the intent algorithm. Tap directly into the power of the conversations that technology is emboldening your customers to have with or about your product or service. Find out where your customers are and create environments in which they will engage your brand, product or service. (I’m not creating a new mode of thought here – Seth Godin talks about similar ideas in Tribes, and Everett Rogers explained how communications or idea paths disseminate in similar ways in Diffusion of Innovations.

To me, “digital dreaming” is not only about understanding intentions and actions, but also uncovering the things that both excite and dismay established and potential customers – and perhaps the not-so-satisfied ones to boot. It really boils down to this: You simultaneously need to find better ways to reach out to potential customers with more meaningful messages, while also engaging your existing customers who have great passion for what you do. Some of you are rolling your eyes thinking, “How will I get people passionate about my product? I am not a ‘social’ brand!” I’d say, don’t look for what you mistake to be existing fruit; it is probably past its peak anyhow. Look for the seed to plant new ideas or uncover hidden aspects about your business that are inherently interesting and possibly social. Start with accepting the fact that the technology is here and it is changing how people’s communication is sparked. If you still don’t have an idea that works for you, support another entity that does. A lot of what social media marketing is about is reciprocal relationships. Support what others are passionate about and they will be more likely to consider your brand in return for that support.

Recently, we watched some digital dreaming unfold when an item pinged up in a Zeitgeist & Coffee^SM weekly landscape survey for our client MVP Health Care. What we found was a Twitter posting regarding MVP. The individual had noted the presence of community relations and brand signage at a bicycle race in which he had participated. Not long after the event, the individual was delivered an ad impression via our online video display campaign. He literally grabbed the core “TriVantage” product message from the ads’ closing graphic and proceeded to share it on Twitter through TwitPic to all his followers. The conversation became the medium, the technology, the process and the message. It gets rebroadcast and maybe “re-tweeted” and “liked,” so on and down the line.

This isn’t planned. We didn’t sit plotting in the viral war room. What we did do a few years ago with our client was come to a smart and sound conclusion that the marketplace had significantly changed. Being just a logo is not the recipe for being noticed. Your logo is the mark by which you are easily identified; your brand position is what you actually deliver to your customers. We presented a prospect with a strong message and brand experience, in multiple venues that matter to them. The message and the choice of venues were impactful enough to catalyze a positive, unsolicited response. We could keep doing it the silly old “reach and frequency” way. Continuing to put faith in saying nothing often may get us some unaided brand awareness points on a compromised survey. Or we could focus on the notion that people are willing to engage our brands and have an open mind to the possibilities.

This does not mean these efforts happen at the expense of existing media channels in favor of social media efforts. What it really means is start making the messages better and more tangible wherever they are going to be broadcast. Plug and play options will be best in Dr. Fredericks’ future world of advertising… and the future is now. Is your marketing digital dream ready?