Kribaby

The Case for Online Advertising - Part 1: Spend where they Consume

I initially tried to create one long post about online advertising, but as a part of my New Blog Resolution I thought I would break it into smaller bits and then put it all together at the end.

On-line media is important because of the % of media consumption it makes up (and this is ever increasing).  The data used below is a little out of date (2005), and I'm sure that both the consumption and advertising have grown since, but I would still expect that they are out of balance (more posts to follow showcasing some issues).

According to On-line-Publishers.org, in 2005 6% of advertising $$ were spent on-line vs. 23% of media consumption was on-line.

This brings the question to advertisers - what is holding you back from investing more heavily in this high growth medium? 

The Internet offers better targeting and CRM (customer relationship marketing) opportunities due to the enormous amounts of data that some sites have about their audience.  In addition, most ads can be set in programs that provide targeting far superior to that achieved in traditional media.  In addition the net offers more formats of advertising (banner, video, pop-ups, ad-words, search, etc) that can be tailored to reach the right person in the right place at the right time.

With the Internet being able to stream other forms of media (IE. Internet movies, TV and Radio) it will become an increasingly important media channel.

The question to marketers is where are you spending your $$?  Is it where your consumers are spending their time and $$?  Are you prepared for media consumption on-line to grow?

I can haz Easy Button for the Internet?

I was over at bub.licio.us reading Brian's post on dataportability.org.  Google, Plaxo and Facebook are joining up with dataportability.org, which is a service that allows your data to move around the internet with you, without reinputting it for every new site you join.  Like how IE or Firefox remember your password, but on crack.  Got me thinking.

What are the new consumer (ie. user) value propositions on the internet?  There are millions of sites that allow you to do virtually anything from making your own McLovin ID (I just saw this on Shoemoney and couldn't resist including it) to researching Vanilla Ice to online banking to online stalking (errr - social netowrking??).

You really can do anything.  So where is the internet going next.  I say take a lesson from mature industries.  Simplification.

I work for a Consumer Goods company.  Big, powerful innovation comes from products that make life easier.  Laundry detergent with fabric softener built in, swiffering instead of sweeping - products that simplify processes provide real value.

I think that the same can be said about banking.  Make money management easier to understand, access and manage.

Thinking of how industries mature on a complexity scale I think often looks like this (OK I can't draw but I made this in paint):

The point is that as industries evolve in their early stages they become more and more complex, to the point that they become difficult to navigate.  At this point innovation that becomes meaningful provides simplicity.

In Consumer Goods there is a lot of documentation on the Paradox of Choice (an interesting book) - when people have too many choices they get confused and frustrated and often choose nothing.

I think that breakthrough innovation on the web, and in Social Media in particular will come from simplifying user experiences.  I can't count the number of Social Networking, Blogging/Live Blogging, Photo, User Generated News sites, etc that I am on.  I actually have a file to remember my user IDs and passwords (since I also have 5 different email addresses).

The dataportability.org news is a step in the right direction.  Make my online life easier to manage.  I wanna get more out of the time I spend online.  I don't want to have to find my friends on 80 different websites.  I can haz Easy Button?

Resolutions - Not because of the New Year, just because

Resolutions.  Things to change.  Do better.  Do more of.  Do less of. Quit. Start. Stop. Begin.

Numero uno for me.  Be a better blogger.  I have been bad.  I haven't written in far too long.  Today I ask myself why?  Do I have nothing to say?  Do I not enjoy writing?

As I reviewed the 7 blog post drafts that I have saved it is clear that neither of these is the problem.  The problem is that I approach blogging as I would approach writing a major report.  I want to put together a clear, researched, well thought out post that combines multiple angles and is probably to long and boring for anyone to want to read.

And there is the fear.  Will I sound stupid?  What if I say something wrong?  Am I boring???

The more I read blogs, the more I realize that it isn't about perfection - it's about average people, with average writing skills writing about things that interest them.  And THAT is my resolution.