Bob Rinderle / Business & Beyond

Interactive Marketing Leads Brand Building

Nate Elliott of Forrester recently published the following reasons why interactive marketing is poised to lead brand campaigns and customer engagement:

1. The Internet has the scale to match any other channel. 83% of American adults are now online (compared to 96% who watch TV), and online users spend marginally more time online each week than they spend watching TV. In total, I estimate that for every hour the average American spent watching TV in 2010, they spent about .9 hours online. I expect that when we get our 2011 survey data back, the channels will be neck-and-neck.
2. The Internet has the depth to beat any other channel. Marketers no longer have to limit themselves to the quick brand impressions made by TV spots or billboards; their websites offer them all the depth they need to convey complex brand attributes and engage users. And consumers actually want brands to offer them this depth online – it’s why so many users go straight to Google to learn more about the brands they see advertised offline, and why the Internet is consumers’ most trusted source of brand and product information.
3. The Internet is more trusted than any other channel. What’s the marketing channel customers trust most? It’s not your TV ads, your print ads, your direct mail or even your Facebook page – it’s your own web site.
4. The Internet is a richer storytelling medium than any other channel. I love TV’s ability to tell a story – it’s the reason we still remember classic ads and taglines, and the reason I’ve dedicated much of my career to developing online video ad formats. But online goes a step further than TV, adding interactivity to the picture and offering marketers their single most compelling creative channel.

Even Though It's Social, It Still Needs A Strategy

Social media doesn't start and end with the publishing vehicles; social is only one piece of an effective content, and customer engagement, strategy.

While it may seem obvious, in my job, I have to explain this on a regular basis.

 
Source: http://fjrodriguezg.tumblr.com/post/2101032155/social-media-iceberg-diagram 

Flip The Funnel, Take The Cannoli

Looking forward to dinner tomorrow night with Beth Comstock, GE CMO, Linda Boff, Steve Liguori, Andy Markowitz, and a handful of other GE luminaries, along with Beth's featured guest, Joseph Jaffe.

Does Social Media Sell?

"While digital channels and online interactions offer a plethora of data points, they don't come with a set playbook for assigning value. Marketers have grown comfortable with formulas like gross ratings points and frequency, time-tested formulas for building brands in traditional media. Yet with social media, what's a Facebook friend worth?" asks Brian Morrissey in Adweek.
 
Pepsi went big in social with Refresh Everything, a program that directs $20 million to charities.  As Morrissey reported, the program was appealing to Pepsi executives because it rested on four big trends: crowdsourcing, doing good, sharing and transparency.

"Our goal is to skate to the center of culture," says Bonin Bough, PepsiCo's director of social media. "Right now, digital is culture."

Many believe the future for brands is to do well by doing good - made famous, in part, by Google's "don't be evil" mantra.  I'm all for corporate responsibility, but when it comes to philanthropic marketing, there is a point at which brand elasticity snaps.  I'm curious to see how far Pepsi's messaging can move into social activism before the critical brand experience - the reason why the physical product exists - eventually gets lost.  Interestingly, another beverage, Coors Light, reversed years of sales declines by recommitting to a product-based message grounded in Rocky Mountain cold refreshment.

It is tricky to get the marketing mix and messaging mix in proper balance; I am interested to see how Pepsi's moves play out.