Mon 11 May 2009
Digital is not my god.
Posted by BobMinihan under advertising, digital, social media
photo: chantrybee
>> Guest post by Bob Minihan
Allow me to interrupt the digital jihad for a bit.
Read a Tweet last week saying that Apple now ruled the world with their apps. Clicked on the link they provided as proof.
It led me to an Apple TV commercial.
My reply pointed this out. 0 responses.
Hmm.
Was I the only one who noted the irony of Apple, the new digital emperor, communicating apps to the online world via a, wait for it, wait for it, a TV spot?
Insanely cool Apple using TV?
Isn’t TV all DVR’d, out of date, old school, not with it, unmeasurable, a waste of money and dying like newspapers? Could brands like Apple, VW, Burger King, and now Microsoft with their “I’m a PC” campaign be so out of touch that they’re still using 20th century media as a cornerstone?
Don’t they know that marketing managers today feel so besieged that they need to prove direct results for every message? Just so they don’t get fired by the accountants, measurers, cost cutters and procurers now running the process?
Perhaps.
Or just maybe, could these brands know something that no one online wants to talk about? That before preference, purchase, relationship, and advocacy, you still have to create awareness?
That without awareness, none of the above matter?
Hello? Does anyone else see this, or just the brands that are magically rising above the toxic sludge of the current economy?
Could TV, while not what it once was, still be the most effective way of creating awareness with mass audiences? Like, duh.
Don’t get me wrong. I still have the original Apple battleship grey laptop in my closet. I love my iPhone 3G. I led a creative team that won a gold Clio for interactive way back in 2000. I am as pro-digital, pro-social media, pro-Twitter, Mashable, Facebook, You Tube, Hulu, and whatever’s-next as the next person.
It just seems that everyone online now has an axe to grind. Maybe to relentlessly push online to further their own businesses and their own careers?
Maybe to convert all through the gospel of Digitology? Whatever.
I just think we, as marketers, owe our clients a little bit of objectivity.
But maybe that’s just me.
Let the stoning begin.
Bob Minihan is Executive Creative Director/Partner, ISM
“At ISM, we create Stories That Travel. We have proven that linking smaller brands to bigger stories is a tremendously effective way to compete with larger, better-financed brands, especially in these digital times.”
4 Responses to “ Digital is not my god. ”
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[...] does everyone feel so compelled to come to the defense of television? From blog posts to editorial columns it appears that the old guard is jealous (at best) and petrified (at worst) of [...]
I laughed this morning when John Ridley’s commentary on NPR “Keep your tweets to yourself” ended with a promo, somewhat shyly, for his blog. I don’t think anyone knows where this is heading and they are looking to us to tell them.
Bob, I admit it. I’m a social media evangelist who is telling the world that soon all media will be social media because that’s what I believe. That said — yes, there needs to be awareness first, and yes, sometimes the best way to do that is to buy a 30-second commercial on the gosh-darn tv. Get your message in front of millions of viewers and get the heck out of the way. Perhaps it’s like the argument that VCRs would kill the movie industry. Just the opposite of what the pundits predicted happened, in fact.
But…if really what our clients need is a bit of objectivity, then we owe it to them to be thinking through the implications of all this. Where is it going? Are *behaviors* changing to be more social, because it is easier than ever before? And if so, what does that mean to marketing, to advertising?
Andrea, you are right, they are looking for us to tell them what may be impossible to see. Still, I can’t help but *try* to look six months, a year, five years down the road and think about just what might be possible.
Thank you both for provoking the discussion.
One difference is that people will actually watch, if not seek out, an Apple TV spot. Doesn’t matter where they put it. Seek out is the key idea here. Brands buy lots of TV because they often don’t have anything worthy of being sought out in the way of content (Bud, Apple, Cadbury, a few others are the exception). And guess what, you can’t generate awareness if no one watches your spot no matter how much money you put behind it. So, the argument isn’t in favor of TV, or against digital. It’s in favor of great ideas, compelling experiences and content worthy of our attention. That goes whether we’re paying for it on TV, or earning it in social media. Bring a good idea to the party or go home alone.