Interestingly, given all the cynicism, 81.9% of the respondents have incorporated some level of green activity in their lives.  This indicates to me that most folks want to live in a way that is environmentally conscious, but don’t trust corporate america to give them the real skinny on their products.

The internet has given the average citizen access to a vast amount of data to be able to verify the claims advertisers make about their products.  In fact, the same study found that 41.6% of respondents frequently or occasionally research the claims made in green advertisements.

Making an emotional connection with your customers has always been important, but in the digital age you’d better make sure that you are telling them the truth.  The age of buyer beware is slowly turning into the age of seller beware — otherwise, you’ll be called to task, probably on a forum board, blog, or wikipedia.  

And as for my paper or plastic preference, I have to admit that I am a plastic guy who wishes he was a canvas guy. 

Image Credit: by aussiegall

On January 14th the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council released the findings of their annual Marketing Outlook survey.  Below the positive findings regarding spending for 2008 was a piece of information I found interesting about agency turnover.

Marketers reported significant agency turnover in 2007 with advertising (41 percent), web design (38 percent) and public relations (26 percent) firms most frequently changed in 2007. Special markets (e.g. ethnic), demand generation, hosted services/solutions and sales promotion had the lowest incidence of substitution.

The need for global scale and size did not seem to be a factor in agency switches. Rather, performance issues were the most prevalent reasons for swapping out agencies in 2007. These included:

• Lack of innovation
• No value-added thinking
• Poor creative
• Quality of work
• Results and deliverables

Advertising is plagued by HKM – “Homogenized Kodak Moments”. Campaigns across industries look the same and nothing stands out anymore. Marketers need to do a better job turning TV and radio into direct response vehicles. Consumers will go to websites and offer information about themselves (for free) if they’re compelled by advertising.

Source: “How to Enter the Golden Age of Agency/Client Relationships.” Steve Cone, Former Managing Director and Head of Advertising and Brand Management, Citigroup Global Wealth Management. ANA Agency/Client Forum, 07/19/07.

1. Online ads stay resilient. [agree]
2. Video surge slows. [disagree]
3. Social network advertising hits $1.6 billion.  [agree]
4. Networking goes beyond MySpace and Facebook. [agree]
5. YouTube decides the election. [disagree / they (you tubers) are tethered to their computers, they won't venture out on election day in significant numbers to decide the election.]
6. Beijing Olympics pumps ad spend. [no comment]
7. “Buy online, pick up in-store” becomes stock feature. [agree]
8. Movie downloads go mainstream. [it should, but I don't know if it will]
9. Music marketers roll out new business models. [they should, but I don't know if they will]
10. Dynamic ads heighten gaming revenue potential. [anything is possible]

They also project an increase in online advertising, “marketing executives will gravitate toward the internet, looking for more measurable ad formats to buttress their positions.”

In addition, eMarketer sees a increase in online video ad spending.

[via MarketingVox]

There is a lot of information out in the ethos about marketing 2.0 and I think it’s important to bring a little old school marketing arithmetic in to help us keep things in context, lest we all begin to think that internet advertising is a silver bullet.

Internet advertising does a descent job at helping shape opinion, but when it comes to driving desire or purchase intent it lags behind – behind TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, and some guy yelling on the street corner. The caveat here is, as with all things, it all depends on what you are selling and who you are selling to.

Let us resurrect an old concept here, called the purchase funnel. I know it is archaic and many gurus think it’s dead and has been replaced by the long & winding path (the tumbler) or the model approach, but this is my blog, so it’s back.

The purchase funnel is beautiful because it is a simplistic approach that gives us a point of reference for the consumer from start to finish. [As a personal side note: The reason 2.0 marketers and internet folks in general don't like the funnel is because it doesn't bear them particularly good news when it comes down to driving purchase intent. It's hard to sell advertising if you have trouble delivering a positive ROI.]

To review some marketing 101, at the top of the funnel is awareness & at the bottom is purchase, what comes in between is oft debated and generally something like; awareness—>interest—>opinion—>desire—>intent—>purchase—>retention.

I am breaking the funnel into the standard two tier approach with the upper tier being awareness & association and the lower tier speaking to favorability & consideration. [I throw retention at the bottom because I think that's where the internet can really play a key role, keeping customers happy and bringing them back to purchase again.]

Some old school stats.

Television and magazines have a higher incremental effect across the purchase funnel.

Television and magazines have a higher incremental effect on the Brand Metric, things like Brand Awareness & Message Association.

In addition, many offline mediums perform better in driving online search traffic than online vehicles.

Why doesn’t internet advertising perform in delivering purchase intent?  It’s about receptivity & retention.  Ask yourself these two questions: 1) What was the last great TV ad you watched?  2) What was the last great internet ad you watched/read?  Most folks are going to be able to answer number 1, despite living in the TiVo age, we still enjoy a good TV commercial.

Getting consumers to accept your ads as unobtrusive has been on the minds of advertisers since dawn of time (maybe that’s overly dramatic, but I’m leaving it in).  This is where the internet has a dubious reputation.  In the beginning it was all the pop-ups, pop-unders, and flashing hit the monkey banners.  Today, it is concerns over privacy and targeted marketing programs.  This malaise has effected the entire medium and has led to a higher negative view of internet advertising.

What does all this mean?

First: It’s about engagement.
Hugh MacLeod and Robert Scoble nailed it on the head.  It’s about love, friendship & connectivity.  The internet works best at bringing people together.  The more you engage your consumers in a positive way, the more likely you are create brand champions and evangelists, that’s where the true miracle of internet comes into play. 

The places where the internet can have the biggest impact for your advertising dollars are in the upper teir & after the sell: Opinion & Retention.  How often have you gone online to research before buying?  After buying, how often have you gone back to register the product?   We can all answer yes to the first question, if you can answer yes to the second question I would argue that the brand has kept you engaged.  If a brand can incent you to register and follow-up it up with relevant & timely information they will probably make a sale to you or one of your friends in the future.

Second: One size doesn’t fit all.
Selling toothpaste isn’t the same as selling content.  Every brand requires a different media mix depending on what they are selling and who they are selling to.  We all need to spend some time figuring out who our consumer is and what they want before we go spending ad dollars.

Third: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Remember the 4Ps: Product, Price, Placement & Promotion.  The old adage, the main thing is to remember that the main thing is the main thing, is still relevant.  Deliver a quality product at a reasonable price where your consumer shops and letting them know it’s there, still works.  If you want to keep the customer, follow it up with excellent service.

That’s my brief take on marketing 1.0 – 2.0.  Remember that you get what you pay for and I am not offering refunds.