AdWeek reports on big marketers, using a mix of nontraditional communications channels is that what was once considered "experimental consumer outreach" is fast becoming mandatory strategy - mainstream strategy.
"– IBM during the past two weeks launched two new podcast series, bringing its total to about a dozen; all were created in the past 12 months. Each series addresses a business topic, such as technology tips on computer security, and disseminates information free to the outside world. IBM also manages some 350 blogs to communicate with customers and potential customers. Collectively, the blogs and podcasts position IBM as a thought leader in a "self-publishing world," and as such, serve to build the brand, the client said. In fact, podcast leaders and bloggers must adhere to internal written guidelines. "Every individual who works for IBM has to carry responsibility for the brand and has to promote the brand," said Ben Edwards, IBM’s manager of new media communications. "The reality we all face is that communications are increasingly going to be by individuals to individuals rather than some kind of corporate or institutional communication. People prefer that because they trust each other."
I know all about this one - I’m the person who pulls the data.
‘– T-Mobile’s Sidekick, which previously used TV to promote the brand, takes those visuals online in a campaign, via Publicis West in Seattle. The pitch centers on a microsite, sidekick.com, that supports the latest version of the device, the Sidekick 3. Publicis convinced the client to do a completely online advertising effort because "that’s where the young and social target market for this product lives," said David Kim, interactive creative director at the agency. The core target is 16-to-28-year-olds. "Our target audience is a heavy online community. It’s almost equal, the time they spend watching TV as surfing on the Internet," said Jenna Beardsley-Smith, senior manager of advertising for T-Mobile. "The Sidekick allows for great social engagement. That’s why the microsite is better than TV. It’s an experiential medium." Sources said the client has dedicated $3 million to the online effort, which broke July 10 and runs through mid-September. That’s half the amount spent on previous campaigns on the brand. In its first two weeks, the relaunched sidekick.com received more than 1 million unique visitors with each visitor spending an average of 4.5 minutes on the site, as opposed to the average of one minute they spent before, according to Kim.
Ok, so here’s a definition of engagement for the TMobile Sidekick 3 campaign (I also own a Sidekick III, by the way - it’s my phone of choice though I wish it had video).
Before Sidekick 3 was launched - sidekick.com average visitor spent 1 minute per visit on line - now they spend 4.5 minutes (after Sidekick 3 was launched on July 10th).
So here’s the kicker - engagement can only last for a certain about of time - unless you pump out new content - the ad is going to go stale. Sure, in December, the average visitor will probably spend around a minute on the sidekick.com site. You can’t just do something and then sit back and relax - you have to keep working on engagement of the customer by providing new content all the time.
Sure, you don’t what to overwhelm your audience with too much content - but studies I have done have suggested that ads run for too long decrease in effectiveness to the point where they are not worth running any longer.
Bread gets stale, so does Ad Content, Blog Content, site content - it has to be kept new and interesting and "engaging" - and then…you can measure engagement by comparing before to after. At least, that’s one way to do it.
The rest of the examples in the AdWeek article are good to read also - I cited these two because I personally know about them.
