Another week in paradise

Hi,

Another fun week in the world of digital marketing. All in all, it's been a good week. When I was having a chat with another fellow digiteer, it's good to see how busy all of us are because at least it shows a tangible sign that interest in digital is picking up. Knock on wood and hope it continues...

On a completely unrelated topic. Got a call from Media Magazine the other day asking a pretty relevant question: Did Google hurt the online publishing industry?

My answer is simple: absolutely NOT because Google has finally forced publishers to wake up and smell the coffee! Digital is about accountability and Google's CPC model helped push this agenda... now even the Digital 101 marketers are asking the right questions about accountability and through this, pushing the industry as a whole to own up and start quantifying investments. Best part is that we can now prove success in real, tangible ways...

The best part about all this is that for agencies like us, if we don't wake up and own up, we won't be in business for long...

What do you guys think?

Talk soon.

My friend Ranji asked: Can you build a brand across online channels?

My short answer is YES and it can be quantified too...

My long answer:
Ever since I got started in digital/online marketing back in the 'what's the Internet?' days in 1994... the primary argument 'brand agency dudes' used against using online advertising to build brand was hinged on two arguments: a) mass reach and b) TVC/moving images has the impact to be able to dramatize and bring to life key product benefits in 30" A 'banner' just won't cut it. Even when, over the past few years, we see the advent of 'rich' creatives.

NOW ITS DIFFERENT (shouted with glee). comScore tells us that in Singapore, the average monthly time spent online watching video is now just over 200 min. Hmmmm... and pretty much anyone who we want to reach uses the Internet for something or the other in the past week... AND in-banner video... is it time that we digiteers can finally hold our head high and say that online is now also viable brand building channel?

I would think so. The best part is that we no longer need 'estimations' on reach and viewership (ahem) but can quantify down to the last second who, what, when, why, and where....

Not sure about you all out there... but I think we now have a pretty compelling proposition and argument...

So there you brand dudes out there... we digiteers are 'brand dudes' too. OK... now if the creative directors can get it around their heads that a 10" spot on FTA is not the same as a 10" in-banner video... but that's another discussion

Thanks Ranji for asking the question!

Talk soon.

My first posting: Twitter Fact or Fiction

My first blog posting... well here it is... for those of you who know me, you may not rejoice nor hear angels heralding in the heavens because you are probably thinking: oh no, he has another forum for him to rant and rave... well - too bad. After much cajoling from KT and Goo, I am now an official blogger.

Here is my first rant: Why is Twitter so hot?

I swear, every client is calling me up and asking about 'Twitter' and what we can do with it.

My answer (and will remain so until someone can prove otherwise) is that 'Twitter' is not for everyone. Yes it can be an effective marketing tool but, we as marketers, must use it 'correctly'.

'Correctly'?????? Bah humbug... I can just hear the collective scream of my fellow digiteers. What the heck is doing it 'correctly'... 'we must test and learn'.... and 'it's really cool'... etc. etc. etc.

Well, yes I agree since no one really has used it enough to define 'correct' and is it the current big thing 'that we must all embrace or die' OR is it the latest marketing fad? I personally think it's the latter not the former (until someone gets it right of course).

Let me briefly explain what I mean...

I love data (yes I am a geek). Am very proud of being one. I am especially proud of being a data geek. I love data. Social media/platforms will eventually offer the 'ultimate' data source for all us data geeks out there. Frankly speaking, it's already there. Overlay the right data-mining tools on top of it and we can really get some great info. Hence I do believe that Twitter will grow into something sexy and viable as a direct marketing tool. But not yet.

When clients ask me this question, my answer is 'do you have a story?' My humble (wink) opinion is that without a story to tell, there is no point going into a social platform much less something so 'immediate' as Twitter. What do I mean by story? Well, if all you want is a quick blast out to 'your consumers' to talk about the latest offers from your company (even if it is LBS-ed) then i think you are missing the boat. Why does someone WANT to hear 'instantly' about your offers even if I am 20 feet away from that spa you just gave me a 20% discount to go to? Would you do it if you got the blast? Probably not (if the blast is so untargeted as this)... I sure wouldn't.

So if this is the case, then why would anyone do it? Why would you want to use something like Twitter to blast out messages? Wouldn't it be better (and less annoying for generally everyone) if you use Twitter to blast out messages that people find useful? Hence my question 'do you have a story'?

The reason why I proclaim (hear the trumpets) that Twitter is 'not yet' is because I want to discourage marketers who see it as the 'ultimate 1-to-1' tool for today. I don't want them to 'test and learn' yet. I don't want anyone messing with it until it gets more mature... when the data that is inherent to the tool is available and we digiteers can bring a solid offering to our clients. If we go and spoil this new potentially powerful tool... and piss off the consumers who are really 'twittering' now then we are just shooting ourselves in the foot in the long run because they are just going to get tired and move on.

I really hope they don't... I really really really really want to get that data.

Talk soon.