Monday, February 18, 2008

Is the Ad Industry Scared of Social Media?

In a column on AdWeek, Benjamin Palmer writes about social media scaring the advertising industry. He comments that the new design of the flow of information is way more open then it used to be. This provides consumers with more knowledge of the products they buy and the companies that build them. So why is this bad? Maybe companies don't want consumers to know everything. Palmer writes that this is indeed the case and the answer is not to fight it but, rather to embrace it.

Palmer argues that the advertising industry, instead of adapting to this new online world, is fighting it. Palmer writes,
This industry is still building broadcast spots and Web marketing as if the 24-hour news cycle never happened, as if the blogosphere doesn't exist. If the advertising industry were a social network, we'd be MySpace: played out, man.
Palmer praises Facebook. He claims its business model should be the new advertising way of life: constant change based on consumer feedback. It sounds so logical, right?

What do you think? Are advertisers embracing this new online revolution? If so, is it enough?

-Personally, I think advertisers are slowly adapting, but this change is not so simple. Much of the corporate world is run by old men and women who grew up listening to Superman on their family radio during the prime time broadcast spots. As we grow up, the idea of social media marketing will come natural to us. We use it everyday. But what about the baby boomer generation that runs the companies? Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? The transformation will occur, it's inevitable, but the transition time will be longer than it needs to be.

5 comments:

Tony Matta said...

I think Ben Palmer had a good point concerning companies doing more collaborating with their own employees. Asking people who are working in the company about their opinions and ideas on the company’s brand image could indeed be helpful for brand managers.

Nicole St. Jean said...

I am with Ben Palmer in his praise of facebook for its strageic business plan aimed at tailoring specific ads to those with aligning interests. Not only will the company advertising make better use of the advertising dollars, but this will also create less frustration fot the consumer. (we will be advertised to based on our interests and out behavior online.)

I think companies are understanding the positive ROI for advertising online and they are still in the process of learning as are we. As Jasmine mentioned, the baby-boomer generation that is getting ready to retire is heading most of these companies and they are just learning about the use of advertising online and the importance of social networks.

This summer, I worked at an Advertisement Agency and sat in on many executive meetings where all employees of the company were being educated on search engine optimization and the increasing importance of online advertising in creating awareness for the community. As tehcnology continues to evolve and change, businesses must adapt and learn how utilize these essential tools in order to remain competitive in the marketplace

sara said...

I think sooner or later social media is going to be the best way to advertise. I believe that people always flock to the tendency to resist change because it is different then what they are used to.

A company can better segment according to interest and online history and this is made even easier with social media and advertising online. I have noticed that since we talked in class about the flavored waters on facebook with a profile, I have noticed more advertising profiles on facebook.

Laura said...

I think many companies have had to re-evaluate their social and environmental practices because of social media. In the past, advertisers used other media outlets that did not allow for much feedback from customers. Now, if a company or employee of a company does anything notable, it will be available on the internet in minutes. Ethics come into play even more today because it is harder for companies to control negative feedback on the web. However, they can also use it to their advantage to improve products and policies based on customer feedback.

Kristyn-Anne said...

I agree that eventually social media is going to take over as the most prominent means of reaching the market. All new concepts take a while to catch on and gain momentum, but eventually our generation is going to take over the business world, and as we will have been exposed to social media for an extended period of time, it will be almost instinctual for us to turn to social media for advertising/marketing. It has already gained great momentum in the past few years, I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.