Perché le aziende non investono abbastanza nella Comunicazione Digitale (prima parte)
Stavo per scrivere un post di riflessioni sul mercato della Comunicazione Digitale in Italia, quando mi sono imbattuto in questo interessante articolo di Randy Falco, CEO di American On Line, dal titolo eloquente: It's our fault you are so confused about Digital.
Lo riporto qui integralmente per stimolare il dibattito su cosa migliorare per rendere ancora più efficaci eventi come Iab Forum o Codice Internet, che si propongono di sensibilizzare il mercato su come cogliere al meglio le opportunità offerte dalla Comunicazione Digitale.
Se si escludono alcuni passaggi autoreferenziali, l'articolo merita di essere letto con attenzione, poiché è un'autocritica sincera da parte di un importante operatore del settore della Comunicazione Online, che ritiene necessario un ripensamento del modo in cui viene "proposto Internet" alle imprese, da parte del mercato della Pubblicità Online.
I problemi sono oramai noti e le soluzioni?
Building a brand today means finding, reaching, engaging and influencing people through highly fragmented channels in a volatile media marketplace bent -- as we well know at AOL -- on consolidation. Dwindling CMO tenures and budgets are dialing up the pressure to do all of this more measurably but no less creatively than ever before. And while digital media offer great promise based on their reach, targeting and cost, they also leave brand marketers confused by the sheer number of choices and frustrated that they're so hard to manage.
As one marketing exec recently told me, "No one's sure how to use the space to really tell our story. For the past 100 years, we've really relied on TV -- sight, sound, motion -- to tell the brand story. Now there's a lot of confusion about what to use and how it works." We've spoken to many of you as we've set about rebuilding AOL into an ad-supported business. And while some of you feel at home in the online space, many of you are anxious that you're not getting what you need or are just getting by. I think I know why.
Comprendere le difficoltà degli investitori pubblicitari
You've been largely abandoned by the digital companies who've rushed into this space. Or more specifically, your needs as marketers -- as complex and idiosyncratic as they are -- have been ignored by technologists who believe they've never met a marketing problem that an algorithm can't solve on its own. So instead of partners who spend time understanding and solving your specific problems with ingenuity and integration, you get wave after wave of vendors pushing single-minded technologies that create even more fragmentation.
Cue the headache. Now, you may be thinking, "Just what we need, another old-media guy blaming everything on technology and waxing nostalgic for simpler times." And you'd be wrong. In creating Platform-A to anchor our ad-supported strategy, we invested heavily in assembling the finest online-advertising technologies available. Along with these technologies came some of the most accomplished developers and programmers in the world. Their integration into Platform-A means we can compete technologically with anybody in this space.
You know what I'd expect you or any good marketer to say to that? "Big deal," followed by, "How's all of this going to help me do my job?" Here, you'd be right. Too often digital marketing is defined by technological capabilities rather than unique brand goals. When we lead with technology, especially technology that can be used by anyone willing to purchase or to bid, we ignore the fact that your jobs are to solve business problems that are becoming more multidimensional by the month.
When we lead with people who can understand these various dimensions and help you choose the right combinations of tools, platforms and technologies, creating truly integrated branding experiences, we put the focus squarely where it should be: on you, the customer, and your specific needs. That, I'm afraid, is what is sorely missing in our industry.
If marketers are confused about the online-marketing space, that's our fault, not yours. Too few of us are sitting down with creative executives to see how they're being asked to push emotion through smaller windows with just as much engagement. Too few of us are willing to work side by side with media executives to understand the consumer mind-set before recommending a new targeting profile. And too few of us are putting our arm around a CMO and actually leaning into -- not running away from -- transparency and measurability.
Ascoltare, comprendere, elaborare, proporre.
This isn't about invading your companies with teams of sales trainees doling out lattes and messaging you about how important you now are to them. The thing is, smiles and prizes are no substitute for listening -- and then committing to actually do something with what we hear. We need to ditch the entourages, power down the projector and grab a chair across from our customers. Listen to your individual stories and understand your pain points.
Take that knowledge back to the shop and fashion something that fits you just right. Then, and only then, will we have a chance to turn marketer confusion into a sense of confidence that comes with harnessing the full potential of digital marketing to solve a business problem. At AOL, we've put our money where our mouth is on all of this.
Recognizing that success starts with our ability to work directly and daily with chief marketers and their agencies was a core part of our rebuild strategy and the key reason we've been moving our audience business to New York. We knew we needed something more permanent than a traveling roadshow to connect with our customers if we were serious about aligning the company against their needs. Does listening guarantee success? Of course not.
Our solutions, customized as they may be, will still be only as good as their weakest link -- which requires a high level of creativity and technical sophistication. But in an economic environment that mandates that companies tighten the screws, especially on marketing, I can't imagine how we can succeed without drilling deep to link our solutions directly to core business problems -- and then have the guts to measure them within an inch of their lives.
As you can imagine, I get asked often about the economy's effect on the media business. To me, the answer is simple: Marketers will continue to spend on media that can prove return on investment and drop the ones that can't. You'll continue to spend on technologies that promote creativity, not stifle it. You'll continue to spend with companies that care to listen, not just pitch. And you'll continue to spend with people who understand your frustrations and can help you, if not return to simpler times, gain confidence that you're finally harnessing the power of digital media -- and not subject to it.
Sono d'accordo con Randy Falco, quando dice che le imprese continueranno ad investire i loro budget sui media in grado di offrire un chiaro ritorno sugli investimenti, ma è anche vero che è necessario fornire loro gli strumenti per l'integrazione di tutti i media all'interno del piano di comunicazione.
In un prossimo post, vorrei offrire qualche suggerimento su come ripensare i contenuti degli eventi, dei progetti di informazione, dei white paper, volti non più alla promozione del mercato di Internet, ma alla sua creazione. E' un importante cambio di paradigma.
Stay tuned.
L'immagine è di sir.fukface.
Lo riporto qui integralmente per stimolare il dibattito su cosa migliorare per rendere ancora più efficaci eventi come Iab Forum o Codice Internet, che si propongono di sensibilizzare il mercato su come cogliere al meglio le opportunità offerte dalla Comunicazione Digitale.
Se si escludono alcuni passaggi autoreferenziali, l'articolo merita di essere letto con attenzione, poiché è un'autocritica sincera da parte di un importante operatore del settore della Comunicazione Online, che ritiene necessario un ripensamento del modo in cui viene "proposto Internet" alle imprese, da parte del mercato della Pubblicità Online.
I problemi sono oramai noti e le soluzioni?
Building a brand today means finding, reaching, engaging and influencing people through highly fragmented channels in a volatile media marketplace bent -- as we well know at AOL -- on consolidation. Dwindling CMO tenures and budgets are dialing up the pressure to do all of this more measurably but no less creatively than ever before. And while digital media offer great promise based on their reach, targeting and cost, they also leave brand marketers confused by the sheer number of choices and frustrated that they're so hard to manage.
As one marketing exec recently told me, "No one's sure how to use the space to really tell our story. For the past 100 years, we've really relied on TV -- sight, sound, motion -- to tell the brand story. Now there's a lot of confusion about what to use and how it works." We've spoken to many of you as we've set about rebuilding AOL into an ad-supported business. And while some of you feel at home in the online space, many of you are anxious that you're not getting what you need or are just getting by. I think I know why.
Comprendere le difficoltà degli investitori pubblicitari
You've been largely abandoned by the digital companies who've rushed into this space. Or more specifically, your needs as marketers -- as complex and idiosyncratic as they are -- have been ignored by technologists who believe they've never met a marketing problem that an algorithm can't solve on its own. So instead of partners who spend time understanding and solving your specific problems with ingenuity and integration, you get wave after wave of vendors pushing single-minded technologies that create even more fragmentation.
Cue the headache. Now, you may be thinking, "Just what we need, another old-media guy blaming everything on technology and waxing nostalgic for simpler times." And you'd be wrong. In creating Platform-A to anchor our ad-supported strategy, we invested heavily in assembling the finest online-advertising technologies available. Along with these technologies came some of the most accomplished developers and programmers in the world. Their integration into Platform-A means we can compete technologically with anybody in this space.
You know what I'd expect you or any good marketer to say to that? "Big deal," followed by, "How's all of this going to help me do my job?" Here, you'd be right. Too often digital marketing is defined by technological capabilities rather than unique brand goals. When we lead with technology, especially technology that can be used by anyone willing to purchase or to bid, we ignore the fact that your jobs are to solve business problems that are becoming more multidimensional by the month.
When we lead with people who can understand these various dimensions and help you choose the right combinations of tools, platforms and technologies, creating truly integrated branding experiences, we put the focus squarely where it should be: on you, the customer, and your specific needs. That, I'm afraid, is what is sorely missing in our industry.
If marketers are confused about the online-marketing space, that's our fault, not yours. Too few of us are sitting down with creative executives to see how they're being asked to push emotion through smaller windows with just as much engagement. Too few of us are willing to work side by side with media executives to understand the consumer mind-set before recommending a new targeting profile. And too few of us are putting our arm around a CMO and actually leaning into -- not running away from -- transparency and measurability.
Ascoltare, comprendere, elaborare, proporre.
This isn't about invading your companies with teams of sales trainees doling out lattes and messaging you about how important you now are to them. The thing is, smiles and prizes are no substitute for listening -- and then committing to actually do something with what we hear. We need to ditch the entourages, power down the projector and grab a chair across from our customers. Listen to your individual stories and understand your pain points.
Take that knowledge back to the shop and fashion something that fits you just right. Then, and only then, will we have a chance to turn marketer confusion into a sense of confidence that comes with harnessing the full potential of digital marketing to solve a business problem. At AOL, we've put our money where our mouth is on all of this.
Recognizing that success starts with our ability to work directly and daily with chief marketers and their agencies was a core part of our rebuild strategy and the key reason we've been moving our audience business to New York. We knew we needed something more permanent than a traveling roadshow to connect with our customers if we were serious about aligning the company against their needs. Does listening guarantee success? Of course not.
Our solutions, customized as they may be, will still be only as good as their weakest link -- which requires a high level of creativity and technical sophistication. But in an economic environment that mandates that companies tighten the screws, especially on marketing, I can't imagine how we can succeed without drilling deep to link our solutions directly to core business problems -- and then have the guts to measure them within an inch of their lives.
As you can imagine, I get asked often about the economy's effect on the media business. To me, the answer is simple: Marketers will continue to spend on media that can prove return on investment and drop the ones that can't. You'll continue to spend on technologies that promote creativity, not stifle it. You'll continue to spend with companies that care to listen, not just pitch. And you'll continue to spend with people who understand your frustrations and can help you, if not return to simpler times, gain confidence that you're finally harnessing the power of digital media -- and not subject to it.
Sono d'accordo con Randy Falco, quando dice che le imprese continueranno ad investire i loro budget sui media in grado di offrire un chiaro ritorno sugli investimenti, ma è anche vero che è necessario fornire loro gli strumenti per l'integrazione di tutti i media all'interno del piano di comunicazione.
In un prossimo post, vorrei offrire qualche suggerimento su come ripensare i contenuti degli eventi, dei progetti di informazione, dei white paper, volti non più alla promozione del mercato di Internet, ma alla sua creazione. E' un importante cambio di paradigma.
Stay tuned.
L'immagine è di sir.fukface.
posted by Maurizio Goetz at domenica, novembre 09, 2008
2 Comments:
ciao Maurizio,
il secondo giorno dello IAB ho avuto il privilegio di poter porre una domanda all'UPA. HO scelto questa: "Cari UPA, avete impiegato anni a costruire la filosofia del brand curando ogni minimo dettaglio della creatività e del contesto media in cui il messaggio veniva veicolato. Quando avremo pari attenzione sui media digitali?". Risposta: "Si i media tradizionali li curiamo molto, il web sono 4 anni che lo stiamo studiando...ci manca formazione.."
Spesso mi sono sentita dire che le concessionarie digitali debbono fare formazione al mercato. A 8 anni di distanza penso che siano le aziende a dover dimostrare attenzione e curiosità, o le concessionarie insegnano a vuoto. Il mio vissuto parla di responsabili troppo impegnati per incontrare le concessionarie digitali e di deleghe ai junior (tanto i budget sono piccoli) di banner fatti in velocità e poco pensati, di creatività scopiazzate dalle affissioni, di valangate di keywords inutili, di pianificazioni dettate dalla moda e non dalla riflessione, di "anche se il mio messaggio va sul sito sbagliato tanto pago a pay per click" etc etc..sai qual'è la tristezza? E' che spesso i cosiddetti professionisti del web se ne approfittano e barano. Spacciando per oro ciò che oro non è. Con le mie orecchie ho sentito clienti confusi tra impressions e utenti unici, abbagliati da click rate farlocchi, sedotti da sigle altisonanti. La verità è che credo che il mercato si faccia in due: chi vende deve saper vedere onestamente, chi compra deve saper comprare e premiare l'onestà.
un abbraccio
pieranna
Cara Pieranna, piacere di conoscerti...quello che dici fa riflettere, moltissimo. Si nota dalle tue parole un forte sentimento di rigetto verso un sistema che fa acqua da tutti i pori. E' L'onestà che deve essere premiata...e sono convinto di questo...adesso ti faccio una domanda....come fa "venditore" onesto a trovare un compratore onesto che capisca il sistema globale? E parlo di un compratore Italiano e non Estero!!! :=) Specialmente se si parla di grandi numeri e,quindi, di budget relativamente grandi :=)
Nicola Bandoni
Posta un commento
<< Home