An commentary in yesterday’s AdAge speaks to a core issue plaguing marketers today. Ellen Oppenheim speaks about the silos prevalent in advertising and marketing communication and how rarely is there synergy across media that seamlessly blends the media and engages the consumers with a common creative thread and message, regardless of platform.
In my experience, the core issue begins with strategy. In this critical phase I think too many marketers are looking at media as separate entities and although across media there may be overarching goals and objectives, strategists are still addressing creative as separate communication points, depending on the medium.
It’s time for agencies to stop thinking about how they can out-smart their competition with creative that edgier, funnier or just more outlandish. That’s all great and imperative to the industry as a communication forum, but now is the time to address the one component of marketing communications that drives all others – the audience.
In today’s world of fragmented audiences and rich and engaging media on the go, digital billboards, social experiences, deep integration and memorable sponsorship opportunities, marketers need to think audience first. It seems like a no-brainer but I see not too many signs that this is truly top of mind.
So, what the heck am I talking about?
In the strategic phase it all starts with the target. Duh! Who are they? Where do they go? How do THEY communicate? What makes THEM shout out? What gives THEM goosebumps? Getting inside their skin and into their lives gives marketers a tapestry of their social lives and lets face it – regardless of how amazing TV creative is, or how cutting edge a mobile program may be - it’s what the audience does or how they feel after exposure to the message that really counts, otherwise why advertise?
Providing value and choice to become part of the conversation goes hand in hand. TV, needs to hook to mobile, mobile needs to hook to web, web needs to hook to social, social needs to hook to print or even DR – and by providing a perceived value to the target that we know hits their hot buttons – and multiple ways to join in that conversation, depending on that consumer’s preferred method of discourse, we set the stage for the promise of 1:1 consumer communication, shaping our brands around what our target consumers really want.
Now that’s a mouthful capable of chomping away at any silo.
Link to the original post here:
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=146284
What do YOU think?
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