My thoughts on the future of digital advertising
I was interviewed for Tech News Daily about the future of digital advertising. You can read the entire article here, but I pulled out the parts that I contributed to get thoughts/feedback.
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Unrealized power of digital marketing
Jeff Hilimire, chief digital officer of advertising and marketing agency Engauge, agrees that companies aren’t pushing the envelope just yet.
“Many marketers don’t understand the power of digital marketing. Some believe it’s far too easy to stay with what’s worked for the past 20 years and, therefore, have been resistant to change. Companies are only moving small amounts of money into the digital realm, so there is still a ton of room left for improvement.”
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Hilimire of Engauge believes that the concept of incentives should be used to help encourage word-of-mouth marketing.
“Advertisers aren’t really giving incentives to Facebook users — and they should,” Hilimire said. “People are writing up movie reviews or posting links to their new Apple computer just for fun, but if companies start building this into their marketing programs by offering credit, discounts or free small gifts for sharing their thoughts, the impact could be huge.”
TV revolution
Some traditional modes of advertisements are also getting an update in the digital age. For example, television is about to get a whole lot more personal.
“There’s going to be a huge change in way advertisers can use TV again,” Hilimire said. “Devices such as Google TV that are connected to the Internet will allow consumers to interact with brands in ways never seen before.”
For example, if a commercial for a car or sweater comes on TV, a viewer sitting on the couch will be able to bring up information about the item with the click of a remote- control button. From there, they could read about the product, make a purchase (thanks to partnerships with click-to-buy vendors such as PayPal) or link it to their Facebook page: “There may even be a ‘like’ button on remote controls in the future,” Hilimire added.
“We will also get to the point where you can pause a television show and read more about the products featured in a scene,” he said. “’30 Rock’ loves product placement to the point where they are obvious about it. They have been promoting Cisco’s video-conferencing technology, so in theory, a consumer could request more information about the device, read reviews or buy it right from their screen.”
I would have said 50 years instead of 20 years, but it’s really 60+ for TV*… I think I saw radio and print on Boardwalk Empire and that was like a long time ago.
*The first “legal” TV commercial will be 70 next year
I think the Google TV concept will definitely take off. As it stands now I don’t see it getting traction immediately because Google TV – for now – doesn’t have enough cooperation with the big networks to provide enough content. The price point for Google TV is too high for what content they have. However, once the prices for that technology drops and functionality increases, the TV watching experience you’ve described will be dead on.
It’s not just TV. Read a book review in WSJ this AM on iPad and one-click ordered from iTunes. An incentive would have been nice, but impulse buying has never been easier.
To your point regarding advertisers giving incentives to encourage word-of-mouth marketing, I tend to agree… but I find myself wondering about how that might potentially devalue true consumer advocacy. It can become a slippery slope for market perception on word-of-mouth marketing when there are alterior motives at play. There’s a huge difference on the value I place on a product recommendation from a ‘friend’ based on their motive for that recommendation. As comedian, Dave Chappelle, once said: “What do I like better – Coke or Pepsi?… Well I all I know is that Pepsi paid me most recently, so it tastes better.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e9T3DNAdaI ) . So I guess the take away is this: companies should find ways to encourage and even provide an incentive for contributing though and conversation, but walk a fine line of not diminishing the value of those conversations with what can be viewed as paid advertisements… uh…I mean opinions?
Dang, you’re the first person to ever reference Chappelle in a comment on my blog, so for that, you’re getting a “like” from me ;)
You bring up a point that I hear a lot when I talk about formal programs around advocacy. And I’ve been meaning to pump out a quick blog on the topic and my response, so you inspired me and here’s my response: https://ow.ly/35bRu
[…] Here’s a snippet from an article I was interviewed for back in 2010: […]