Anyone in marketing must be sick of hearing about how bad it's getting with in the media world. Brands across the board are slashing their media spend, at least according to a recent Reuters' article.
In the article, the prediction is made that 2009 could be as bad, or possibly even worse than in 2008 for traditional media spending. In general, we are most likely looking at flat spending for 2009.
Traditional media is not dead by any means. Leading brands spent good investment on the Olympics, and the political race is always a boon for traditional media in the form of TV, radio, print and online display. At the ABM/FIPP Business Media conference, in-person events are continuing overall growth, and innovative companies like Google are still looking to break into the traditional radio and print space. So, if Google is interested in it, that's where the money is.
That said, the trends are flat to down for traditional media. They have been, and continue to be, and we see stories like the one from Reuters and others talking about the death of media.
The Problem Is Not Media
This is important. Nothing is broken about media itself. Consumers have more media choices than ever before. They can also turn on or off most online advertising by opting in or out of particular messaging.
Just this morning I started the day with the print newspaper, caught a bit of news on CNBC, checked the news highlights and RSS feeds on Yahoo!.com, and caught a few industry articles on the web. Getting information is easier and more effective than ever.
That's it. It's key is information. Wow, we've hit on it.
Information is what people want, not advertising. They want to be educated and entertained by really good stories. Just this week Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz said that there are only two ways that customer communication works - to give customers relevant content or to give them a good time. It's that simple. Those two things create brand engagement.
Now look at traditional advertising. It's very hard to deliver relevant and compelling content or give customers a good time by renting space with a media company. It's hard to create true engagement. Here are a few reasons why:
1. Limited Space - Whether it's a 30 second spot, an online display ad, radio commercial or print advertisement, there is simply just not enough time or space to tell a story that engages. Plus, you have to share it with many others who want to sell, sell, sell.
2. Rent Not Own - With traditional media, you are renting a tiny portion of space from another company to pitch your product or service. You don't own much besides your own creative, and once the ad program is done...poof, all gone. There is no substaining life beyond the program in most cases.
3. Inefficient - Even as traditional media gets better at targeting, it's still lacks the effeciency of targeted customer programs. Whether you admit it or not, much of the message goes unnoticed or ignored by prospects and non-prospects alike.
There are many more reasons, but you get the point. If the goal is engagement, and you get engagement by telling stories, traditional media is a dead end. Brands need have conversations with customers, to help shape conversations in an educational or fun manner. Traditional media makes that difficult, if not impossible in most scenarios.
Custom Content Rolls
Yes, traditional media is not coming back - ever. There are too many choices for both brands and customers today - and too many more effective choices.
At the same time we talk about the "flatness" of traditional media, custom content continues to grow. According to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, the industry is now growing faster than any other category except for word-of-mouth. The money that once went to traditional forms of media, is now being invested in targeted, relevant and compelling information to customers. The money is not going way. It's being reinvested.
So don't be sad. It's just like when someone reallocates their 401k investments. We used to be overweight in traditional, underweight in content. The process is underway to reverse that trend.
So, if you are a financial adviser to the brands, traditional media would be a bad investment right now, while custom content would be good. Where do you think you'll get the best return?
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