The Internet has changed advertising. Mostly in the sense that lots n lots of ad dollars are going into digital because it is a limitless* media that costs a lot less than a TV spot. It can also be targeted to such a specific group that a niche advertiser can target mothers of 5-year-olds between the ages of 28 and 35 who quit smoking for the pregnancy and then started again, but then quit again, all while working 25-30 hours a week and eating only apples and oranges on the potato diet who live in Iowa. There is much more freedom and less of a concern for censorship or any sort of gate-keeper type of controls. Ideally, you can speak directly to your target via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (HA! no one uses myspace anymore), LinkedIn, Yahoo!, Google, blogs or any other what-have-yous on the web. If you can actually drive traffic to your website/get people to follow you on the social sites.
Still, just like any other media, if you create something awesome, the people will find it. And then share it. Which is what we** as advertisers and agencies all what. But it also has to make sense. For example, if AARP has a social media guru***, it might be a waste. At least for now. My mom doesn't tweet (although she is on the FB, she doesn't use it all that much). So, tweeting about legislation the AARP is lobbying for or issues they are supporting or even relevant news stories, at this point in time, would be a waste of time for AARP. Some brands just don't make sense having a huge presence on the web outside of a functional, easy-to-navigate website. (God please, we need more easy-to-navigate websites for brands).
"Younger" brands, sure. Tweet your heart out. Start a fan page on facebook. Create some character that blogs about the awesomeness of your brand and how much it can make every one's life awesome. Do it well, though. Keep it interesting. There's nothing worse than investing time in the concept surrounding a product (because that's what a brand is), and end up feeling like their time was wasted following something that never updates or updates with irrelevant crap. While this might not cause said person to switch brands, but in a world where most products are pretty much the same, a favorable opinion of a brand can go a long way to keeping consumers buying your shit.
Again, this all comes down to doing something awesome. The concept, the idea has to be excellent. It has to be something someone looks at/reads/watches and immediately starts thinking of who they know that will enjoy it as much as they just did. And while one can be an expert in mobile/web/out of home/guerrilla/event/ambient/apps/traditional, when push comes to shove, the idea is the seed that everything grows out of (that and the research). And truly great ideas will transcend media and be applicable to any and all media. It just becomes a matter of what jives with the strategy in determining what media to use. Which is when you get in to whether it makes sense for a brand to tweet. For some brands, it makes no sense. Others can monetize their Twitter accounts. And while a guy like me sees Twitter as somewhat of a dumb service with no apparent business model, especially considering very few, if any person is willing to pay for something they previously were able to get for free (see illegal music downloads, facebook, myspace, last.fm, hulu, NYTimes.com, etc.), as a brand, that is completely irrelevant. For now, it's a free service to be co-opted for the benefit of your brand.
All of that being said, I find it hard to understand when a "digital only" shop turns away creative talent for not having enough experience with digital media. While there are nuances with digital that have to be taken into consideration, it just doesn't seem like something that can't be picked up along the way. As long as the creative talent generates great ideas, experience with a certain kind of media should be mostly irrelevant (as long as the agency/company has the staff to fill the void, i.e. a web designer/developer), it shouldn't matter. That being said, the ideas have to be spectacular.
So, there you have it. My thoughts on digital media. You probably don't care, but I feel slightly better without all of that rolling around in my head.
*Someday the Internet will run out of space.
**I say we even though I do not work in advertising (right now, at least).
***I have no idea if AARP has a social media guru/twitter account/facebook page/etc.
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