Comments on: “Spray and Pray” at your peril, people http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/2009/05/28/spray-and-pray-at-your-peril-people/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:44:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Tom Reidt http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/2009/05/28/spray-and-pray-at-your-peril-people/comment-page-1/#comment-509 Tom Reidt Fri, 29 May 2009 21:21:09 +0000 http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/?p=784#comment-509 Point well made. As an aside, that table manners website is actually a pretty good idea; it's a lost art. It sounds to me that the options for marketers are more diverse than ever, and strategic thinking is needed now most of all. What I gather from your last point above is that audiences and objectives are naturally going to provide the direction for any communication, which will make each case differ from the last. The quantity and/or complexity of the plan will depend on the most effective method to communicate, which is in keeping with the targeted marketing philosophy. Coming from a PR perspective, I appreciate your point of view on this whole issue. Monitoring and understanding of stakeholders has to be a priority, whether for reputation management or driving sales. Without an understanding of who we're speaking with, how can we effectively communicate? Thanks for taking the time to respond! Point well made. As an aside, that table manners website is actually a pretty good idea; it’s a lost art.

It sounds to me that the options for marketers are more diverse than ever, and strategic thinking is needed now most of all. What I gather from your last point above is that audiences and objectives are naturally going to provide the direction for any communication, which will make each case differ from the last. The quantity and/or complexity of the plan will depend on the most effective method to communicate, which is in keeping with the targeted marketing philosophy.

Coming from a PR perspective, I appreciate your point of view on this whole issue. Monitoring and understanding of stakeholders has to be a priority, whether for reputation management or driving sales. Without an understanding of who we’re speaking with, how can we effectively communicate?

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

]]> By: Marta Kagan http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/2009/05/28/spray-and-pray-at-your-peril-people/comment-page-1/#comment-508 Marta Kagan Fri, 29 May 2009 15:47:48 +0000 http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/?p=784#comment-508 Tom, Creating experiences online is certainly not enough, unless of course, online is the ONLY place where your target audience is spending their time ;). It's about creating experiences across all touchpoints—versus creating ads that blast a message but leave nothing tangible for the recipient of that message to engage with. To put the idea in another context: if a parent wishes to impact the behavior of his/her child—say, to develop good table manners—will the parent be more effective if she spends her days repeating the "please use good table manners" message? Leaving notes about good table manners, sending emails about good table manners, posting photos about good table manners, etc... Or will she perhaps be more effective if she creates a positive experience for the child "at all touch points" around the topic of good table manners? For instance, rewarding good table manners with praise and special privileges; creating games and opportunities for light-hearted "competition" among peers and siblings around The Best Table Manners; providing helpful and entertaining "how to" sessions both online and off... Ok, maybe I'm taking this analogy a tad too far, but the point remains valid. Saying things over and over again is annoying. And frankly, easy to ignore. It helps when the message is funny, shocking, or otherwise entertaining... which is why TV advertising isn't going to go away completely (not as long as we have TV anyway), but it damn well better not be the only basket you put your eggs into. As for the increase in quantity/complexity question... I think that depends. Certainly it's getting more complex to the extent that the options we have as marketers are growing ever more numerous. At the end of the day though, the basic need to connect with your audience—wherever they are—should guide decisions re medium, channel, etc. So at the risk of sounding like a fence-sitter (never!), I'll leave that one with a definite "it depends". Tom,
Creating experiences online is certainly not enough, unless of course, online is the ONLY place where your target audience is spending their time ;). It’s about creating experiences across all touchpoints—versus creating ads that blast a message but leave nothing tangible for the recipient of that message to engage with. To put the idea in another context: if a parent wishes to impact the behavior of his/her child—say, to develop good table manners—will the parent be more effective if she spends her days repeating the “please use good table manners” message? Leaving notes about good table manners, sending emails about good table manners, posting photos about good table manners, etc… Or will she perhaps be more effective if she creates a positive experience for the child “at all touch points” around the topic of good table manners? For instance, rewarding good table manners with praise and special privileges; creating games and opportunities for light-hearted “competition” among peers and siblings around The Best Table Manners; providing helpful and entertaining “how to” sessions both online and off… Ok, maybe I’m taking this analogy a tad too far, but the point remains valid.

Saying things over and over again is annoying. And frankly, easy to ignore. It helps when the message is funny, shocking, or otherwise entertaining… which is why TV advertising isn’t going to go away completely (not as long as we have TV anyway), but it damn well better not be the only basket you put your eggs into.

As for the increase in quantity/complexity question… I think that depends. Certainly it’s getting more complex to the extent that the options we have as marketers are growing ever more numerous. At the end of the day though, the basic need to connect with your audience—wherever they are—should guide decisions re medium, channel, etc. So at the risk of sounding like a fence-sitter (never!), I’ll leave that one with a definite “it depends”.

]]> By: Tom Reidt http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/2009/05/28/spray-and-pray-at-your-peril-people/comment-page-1/#comment-507 Tom Reidt Fri, 29 May 2009 15:24:43 +0000 http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com/?p=784#comment-507 My, that email looks familiar! Thanks for posting this Marta, I sent that email in hopes of creating a discussion, and there's no better place than here. I completely agree with you that targeted marketing is more effective, and should be the norm instead of the trend. Understanding the audience and how to communicate effectively with that audience should really be the first step of any successful campaign. But is success from creating experiences online enough to completely change the mind of Big Daddy C-Suite for good? I can't see a complete abandonment of TV ads and billboards, but I definitely think more diverse, integrated campaigns will become the standard. In your webinar you cited an example of other media and ads pointing towards a Facebook page, which is a good example of bridging the gap between old marketing and new. To me, the real key is engagement. People can ignore web campaigns just as easily as they can tune out commercials. If you can create some sort of dialogue or conversation around and with your organization, there is a real opportunity to build reputation and reach whatever the objectives of the campaign may be. One more question: with marketing communications becoming more targeted, do you think we will see an increase in quantity and complexity of campaigns? Meaning, a larger number of smaller, specifically targeted communications as part of a larger initiative as opposed to one idea broadcast across every medium available. Thanks again for the presentation, and for bringing this discussion to the blog! -Tom @tomtoronto My, that email looks familiar! Thanks for posting this Marta, I sent that email in hopes of creating a discussion, and there’s no better place than here.

I completely agree with you that targeted marketing is more effective, and should be the norm instead of the trend. Understanding the audience and how to communicate effectively with that audience should really be the first step of any successful campaign. But is success from creating experiences online enough to completely change the mind of Big Daddy C-Suite for good? I can’t see a complete abandonment of TV ads and billboards, but I definitely think more diverse, integrated campaigns will become the standard.

In your webinar you cited an example of other media and ads pointing towards a Facebook page, which is a good example of bridging the gap between old marketing and new.

To me, the real key is engagement. People can ignore web campaigns just as easily as they can tune out commercials. If you can create some sort of dialogue or conversation around and with your organization, there is a real opportunity to build reputation and reach whatever the objectives of the campaign may be.

One more question: with marketing communications becoming more targeted, do you think we will see an increase in quantity and complexity of campaigns? Meaning, a larger number of smaller, specifically targeted communications as part of a larger initiative as opposed to one idea broadcast across every medium available.

Thanks again for the presentation, and for bringing this discussion to the blog!

-Tom
@tomtoronto

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