Companies may not like it, but employees are sitting at their desks watching YouTube, planning their evenings and IM-ing their friends. And advertisers are beginning to recognize the opportunities and are adapting their strategies to reach people at the office.
That’s just one of the ways advertisers and marketers are adjusting plans based on the role that digital now plays in the process, Marc Goldstein, the CEO of GroupM, North America, said yesterday.
The opportunities are limitless, he said.
Digital delivery has enabled television to become highly targeted with addressable messaging capabilities. It also provides data on both consumption and transaction patterns. What used to be print media can now be dynamic, driven by LED interactive tablets with call-to-action video Goldstein explained.
The new direct marketing is RSS and pay-per-action that comes in over computer screens and mobile phones. The new radio is the digital version with the same addressable functions as TV. In the outdoor space, billboards are already talking to people as they walk by through the use of mobile communications and Bluetooth. Mobile is changing the way people consume media and challenged the industry to examine how it delivers content to this market, Goldstein said.
“[Mobile] has spawned a new industry, producing 60-90 second mobisodes so that our consumers can snack on entertainment and news while they are on the move,” he said. “The bottom line is that consumers will basically be reachable with targeted messages just about everywhere they go.”
Which brings up privacy, he said.
The more digital actions consumers take the more trackable they become.
“I believe that as we become even more technologically advanced, and we will, privacy will become a bigger issue that it is today,” said Goldstein, who serves as the chair of the AAAA Media Policy Committee. “And when that happens, some of the arguments for and against the microscopic, electronic tracking of consumer behavior will reach the doorsteps of media agencies.”
Advertising and marketing agencies could find themselves at the heart of the debate and should be prepared, he said.
“Digital communications allow us to measure consumer behavior so that we can deliver targeted, relevant communications for products and services they really want,” he said. “But if we don’t manage consumer privacy responsibly and proactively, the government could take the decision away from us.”
The 2008 Media Conference & Trade Show, held in Orlando, ends today. It was expected to draw 1,600 attendees.
Network
