Discipline of the And ... The Key to Success

Idea > To succeed in today's media world, you need to consider all points-of-view

We live in a very polarized society. Left vs. Right, Fundamentalism vs. Modernism, North vs. South. You get the picture, our world has become highly intolerant of others' points-of-view. So much so, that many of today's arguments about business, politics, culture, marketing or whatever are not really arguments for something ... rather arguments against something. We practice the Art of the Or ... you're either with me or against me ... and with great gusto and passion.

There seems to be no middle ground left, no room to compromise. Especially when it comes to the digital space. Either you get Twitter or you don't ... you iPhone or you Crackberry ... Apple vs. Microsoft. You text or you talk. Digital media or traditional media. Pick one and defend it to the hilt ... either you or me. ... and I am as guilty as the rest of you (oh yeah, just ask me about my MacBook, I dare you)

Quite frankly it's time to put a stop to this nonsense and start practicing The Discipline of the And. A way of thinking that looks for solutions using the best of both worlds.

Look at media and marketing today. There is value in the traditional thinking of Ogilvy who viewed advertising as selling, not entertainment. Porter who championed differentiation as a key to profitability. But it scares the digital modernists, who aren't trained in classical media & strategic planning, to the point of no return.

AND

There is value in the emerging science of digital marketing that expounds consumer-in-control, information currency vs. selling and open vs. closed platforms for sharing and collaboration. Yeah, it's not your Father's 'Command and Control' ... its better. And yes, it scares the hell out of the marketing fundamentalists who want all their functions under tight control.

Here is the truth ... we all learn a whole lot more from listening to the other-side-of-the-table's viewpoint vs. our own. Sorry, it's not only the truth ... it's the Power of the And and the key to success.

That's my point-of-view ... what's yours

Media Dot O

www.zigmarketing.com

www.webdma.com

www.twitter.com/hozo1

The Day the Digital World Forgot About 99.99% of the Universe ... Everyday

Idea > Using the last click as a single source metric is flawed

That's right ... if many of the scientists had their way, those who buy and sell media in the digital space, it would be ONLY about the click. We simply measure click thru and click stream and server logs and silly single-point behavioral data and we can optimize your buy. Let's move on to the next client.

Uh ... no you can't ... you forgot about the 99.99% of the world who didn't click that link, but were searching for information about a possible purchase, conversing about pros and cons of some product, hearing about customer service and a million other interactions that lead to a sale ... but you are just going to forget about them!

Oh, you don't have the technology to track them, so the selling messages they saw don't count. Guess what, if a tree falls in the woods and you can't hear it ... it doesn't matter because it's on the ground, whether you know it or not.

For those not trained in media or strategic planing ... there are plenty of techniques that exist to measure purchase intent, message recall, learning behavior of all kinds that help improve the impact of your digital campaign ... way beyond the click. And don't think I dislike analytics, love em ... just not as a single source for judging the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.

It seems to me a lot of 'before 1994' quantatives are neatly discounted because ... umm I don't know, maybe because they are viewed as old fashioned and not with it.

Clients are being done a huge disservice and decisions are being made solely on flawed 'final click' metrics. This is wrong. Its time to give clients a 360 degree look at how the web and everything on the web can and does effect buying behavior. This can only happen when we start modeling based on the best research techniques ... whether pre or post 1994. Best of both worlds ... The Discipline of the And.

That's my point-of-view ... what's yours

Media Dot O

www.zigmarketing.com

www.webdma.com

www.twitter.com/hozo1