Attention Advertisers: Sometimes Technology Isn't the Answer

The New York Times carried a piece on the topic which as good as anointing the thought with a powerful mix of mainstream recognition and due authorityamp160Except that as the Timesamp160concluded this is about as thin as it getsOne of the most clichamp233d expressions in advertising as much loved by me as by all other rightthinking clichamp233 merchants is the one about right person right place right time right context We39ve always known that reaching people in the moment is important it39s just that now we have the technology to allow advertisers to deliver messages to a mobile device at just the right moment if quotrightquotamp160can be defined very literally on time and place dimensionsIt39s easy to see how a service that allows a brand to serve a commercial message at the exact moment the consumer is in the market to buy can be useful But not without thinking through how such an activity might fit with other band activitiesPlus sometimes technology isn39t the answerThe other day I was early for a meeting in an unfamiliar part of townamp160and in need of coffee Where to find a decent coffee shopamp160I had two optionsOption No 1 Take my gloves off it was a cold day find my phone curse the lack of a decent signal move up the road to get a better signal search for coffee shops navigate my way past the mass of ads and sponsored content for Starbucks some as quotclosequot as about two or three miles away find a search entry for an independent coffee shop go to maps go to coffee shop etcOption No 2 Ask a passerby where I could get a decent cup of coffee Which I didJust because the technology exists doesn39t mean large numbers will rush to use itThe New York Times piece quotes a Google executive as saying quotThe advertising game is no longer about reach and frequency Now more than ever intent is more important than identity and demographics and immediacy is more important than brand loyaltyquotIt39s worth dismantling this nonsenseFirst you have to reach people Unless you do that you39re nowhere Then quotintentquotamp160is simply another descriptor Brand loyalty may well be less important than immediacy sometimes but brand awareness and brand perception are I would contend still very importantThen there39s the creepy component At a time when we are all a bit anxious about what large corporations not to mention governments are doing with our data is it really smart to demonstrate that quotwe know where you are and what you39re thinkingquotamp160quite so obviouslyAt last year39s ASI event Pedro Cosa of Channel 4 showed a great Coke example of using programmatic techniques to personalize creative work Coke had linked with C439s registration data to serve an ad with an individual39s name on the bottle So if I were watching at the right moment I would see an ad featuring a bottle with Brian on itIt was clever but as was pointed out the first time you think quotWow that39s neatquot The second time you call out quotHey come and look at thisquot The thirdamp160time you say quotOkayamp160that39s weird How do they know it39s me watchingquotThe Google quote is full of the arrogance and shortterm thinking far too common within the digiterati The certainty the lack of any appreciation of the role for any brand building activities beyond the immediate call to action even the dismissive reference to quotthe advertising gamequot amp160all make me even more determined to use my own patented search engine Call itamp160the quotask a passerbyquotamp160optionThe New York Times puts it better quotTo build brands an effort that accounts for the majority of ad spending companies need more than a moment amp160the latest scheme to reach peripatetic consumers could prove well momentaryquotJust because we can doesn39t mean we shouldPhotograph courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Attention Advertisers: Sometimes Technology Isn't the Answer

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Brian Jacobs

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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Attention Advertisers: Sometimes Technology Isn't the Answer

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