By Ann Barlow and Ted Birkhahn
Is it just us or has the world gone crazy? Almost every day, we are inundated with another article or self-proclaimed pundit claiming that traditional marketing is dead and
that companies as well as the marketing gurus behind them must completely reinvent the way they reach their target audiences. According to the experts behind the hype, we need to
put the traditional strategies - advertising, PR, and mailings - out to pasture and invest only in personalized, direct means of communicating with and influencing the people we
want to reach.
Even marketing officers at organizations that, in the past, were known for having the largest advertising budgets seem to concur. According to a recent article in The
Economist, Jim Stengel, global marketing officer for Proctor & Gamble, gives advertising a "C-" for its ability to embrace consumers. Larry Light, chief marketing
officer at McDonald's, says bluntly, "The days of mass marketing are over."
So how threatened are marketing's equivalent of brick-and-mortar businesses by such startup "personalized communication" media as blogging, podcasting, wikis, text messaging
and online message boards? To help weed out fact from fiction, we surveyed three groups we believe play a vital role in this debate: corporate brand/marketing executives,
advertising executives and consumers. What we found may surprise, and disappoint, some of the experts who are predicting the demise of traditional marketing.
How Consumers View Mass Marketing
Let's begin with consumers because, after all, they are the ones who are supposedly fomenting this revolution. Our primary research shows that 63% of respondents believe that
traditional advertising - defined by print, TV and basic online ads - is still an effective means of marketing a new product or service. In addition, a whopping 93% felt that
traditional public-relations efforts, such as securing editorial coverage, retains its status as one of the most effective ways of influencing a large consumer audience.
That said, our sampling of 103 adult consumers also told us that the use of nontraditional marketing to supplement the efforts of conventional practices is the key to a
successful marketing campaign. According to 85% of our respondents, the most influential, alternative way to reach consumers and to have a profound impact on behavioral or
purchasing habits is word-of-mouth marketing.
A Mixed Bag: Advertisers Weigh In
Several leaders from the advertising world reacted passionately against the contention that traditional forms of marketing were dying a quick death. One agency head stated, "A
spot on the 'Today' show is still one of the most effective ways of reaching a large consumer audience about a new product or service." He noted that alternative ways of reaching
consumers should be integrated into the marketing mix but they in no way would or should replace television advertising.
The consumers who took our survey clearly agreed. Some 56% felt that personalized marketing was not an influential form of marketing a new product or service. Only 6% of
consumers felt it was more effective than traditional advertising and public relations. What's more, 54% disagreed that traditional marketing lacks the ability to distinguish a
product's or a company's key differentiators.
The reasons mass communication is losing effectiveness, according to the agency executives, are twofold: There is simply too much clutter in mass media, and the technology of
new, alternative media channels is so attractive to large segments of the population.
To be sure, CMOs and other corporate marketing and communications executives are taking a serious look at incorporating personalized marketing into their programs. General
Motors, for example, has a corporate blog, while companies such as Kmart, American Express and Nokia are using text messaging to keep consumers updated on
their latest offerings.
"I think blogging as an institutional piece of the media mix will vary widely by company/industry," said one survey respondent, "but it's not going to be for everyone."
The Bottom Line
Often, a new phenomenon causes the pendulum to swing in one direction, leading its followers to one extreme. It often swings back nearly 180 degrees but, ultimately, it ends up
in the middle, influenced by both ends. Companies, and their agencies, can't ignore alternative methods of marketing nor can they rely solely on the time-honored marketing
channels.
Contact: Ann Barlow ([email protected]) and Ted Birkhahn ([email protected]) are
partners at Peppercom, an international strategic communications firm based in New York City.