So is direct marketing on its way out; is TV about to die a slow death?
For me, the way forward is making use of targeted personal brand communication using whatever medium is appropriate and relevant to the brand and the customer/ prospect (communication is a 2 way thing so needs to include both). This is seeing the merge of many mediums, such as DM, online, TV etc. The distinction between above and below the line is dematerialising and this new blurred area is direct in the sense that it is targeted, individual and measured. According to the stat boffins, internet spend will overtake direct mail, and eventually TV to account for more than 22% of all UK adspend in the first half of 2010.
Messages through classic mediums are constantly being blocked by consumers- PVR, pop-up blockers, spam filters and other similar innovations. It is now more important than ever to deliver relevant, timely information to customers in a way that honour individual preferences. People are more sophisticated and appreciate their time and space. Brands recognising this, acting with integrity, providing quality service at an individual level and connecting with people and not numbers or segments, are playing the new game.
And even more importantly, it’s the year of the community
Ultimately, the brands that do the best job of producing products/ services and communication that are unique and consumers find worth talking about amongst their peers, will be the most successful… better than any direct mail or ATL campaign can ever do. It is also a further argument for the need to invest in brand building to create brands that differentiate and constantly reflect and communicate their personality and values. Consumers should see a successful brand as a close friend, someone (yes, a brand should be equated to a human being and yes, they do have feelings) they want to have a relationship with and exchange information. Someone they will support and trust, and introduce to their ‘living’ friends.
People have more say now more than ever. It is the CRM revolution reversed with consumers and their data in the driving seat. New digital mediums are so easy for consumers to broadcast their own messages and brands should be very afraid of this. If a brand is truly evolving, it will appreciate this and make full use of it: it’s now or never, get involved or die.
A recent, excellent example is Obama’s campaign. He had 2.3 million Facebook supports, 18 million You Tube views, millions of My Space friends, 112,000 Twitter followers, advertising in Xbox 360 Live games, the iPhone application etc. The list goes on. He was able to reach, educate, converse with & influence at a grassroots level - at a fraction of traditional media costs. By using this digital platform, Obama couldn’t get more “by the people, of the people and for the people” and he himself said “we want to change this country from the ground up.”The brilliance of Obama’s digital campaign was not its size, but what he did with it. From the very beginning, across every touch point, it was about lead generation. He slowly and consistently built up his database over time. He then cut and sliced it, analysed it, and targeted the relevant segments. He was clever and targeted, appropriately, all his efforts and funds on swing voters within swing states. In Florida, he identified 600,000 African Americans who had not voted in the previous election, and sent them a targeted communication to get them motivated. Obama facilitated the viral impact through digital channels like no one else – even creating an iPhone application that automatically trawled contacts for those in swing states, to help supporters communicate quickly, and showing a perfect understanding the immediacy of mobile. And as the database grew exponentially, so did the donations – like he said – from the ground up, dollar by dollar he out-did the Republicans. The quality of his digital and direct marketing was such, that he was able to outspend McCain by up to 4:1 in TV advertising. The database he developed gives him significant leverage in government. Who would have thought that so much could come from digital and direct marketing, which in fact ended up funding their traditionally more glamorous cousin, above-the-line advertising?
CRM and data will play an ever increasingly important role in ensuring all communication is direct and personal, and has a relevant message. The direct medium, whatever it may be, must honour the customer and the brand to ensure positive results and increased loyalty.
