"I went out there in search of experience to taste and to touch and to feel as much as a man can..."
Johnny Cash, The Wanderer
Do you know that song? If you do, you know it's more easily digestible than the Old English Poem of the same name. The lyrics are emblematic of the character in the song, a man who searches for something, an experience that he can become intimate with, that he can "…taste, touch and feel". Ladies and gentleman, meet The Wanderer. You better get to know him. He is your new consumer. And to not just keep up with him, but keep ahead of him--the wandering eyes may come in handy.
Our industry likes to say the consumer is changing. I like to say that they have already changed, and not in a way that is easy to digest. Read any article put out by eMarketer or any post by your favorite digital guru and you will see the same trends. It isn't about how brands engage consumers, it's about how consumers engage brands.
So what does that mean for brands? When you are used to being the bride, its kind of hard to become the bridesmaid, isn't it? Programs... Read more
Archive for Scott Shamberg 
It's Fivebux, But Do We Care?
At the annual investors meeting yesterday, coffee brat Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, went on the ">offensive regarding the perception that his coffee is expensive. Howie (I feel like I can call him that since Howard is my middle name) made two key points. First, that Starbucks has “…become the poster child for excess…” Man, Ozzy Osbourne might have an argument with that if he could still form a sentence. The second point he made was that because of the extraordinary taste of his coffee, it is a great value. “Don’t let anyone tell you their coffee is the same as Starbucks because it is not.” Oh, and by the way, they have plenty of coffee under $4. Finally, Howie announced a forthcoming ad campaign that will convince people Starbucks is not as expensive as they are perceived. He said that recent campaigns have generated strong response. So here is my question – what exactly is a “strong response”? I’m a believer that all campaigns should be driven by an insight, a consumer truth as one of my colleagues here likes to say (thanks for the line, Roger). So, yes, the fact that we are in... Read more
Be Careful What You Ask For
Depending on who you believe, ad spending in 2009 will drop anywhere from 3% (GroupM) to 6.2% (Publicis). The internet, however, stands tall, with expectations hovering at an increase of 5% - strong growth in this market. Google "online spending," the returns are overwhelming.
The continued growth of online ad spending is surely driven by the channel's ability to produce measurable ROI. This, combined with the ongoing migration of consumers to the channel as a whole, is a winning formula for online destinations that, for a long time, have cried foul as it pertains to their share of marketing budgets. Well my friends, the time has come. Step up or step off.
With increased spend will come increased pressure. Words like "viral" and "buzz" could give way to words like "lift measurement" and "response." Each dollar that an advertiser puts on the web comes with it high expectations. They believe that one dollar can - and will - work harder for them than any other dollar they place.
As an industry, agencies, publishers and marketers alike must realize that this is not the Internet of 1999. Search has grown astronomically, yes, but more importantly are the strides the medium has made in creative execution. ... Read more
The Message or The Medium: Debate Now!
Here at our agency, we have a program called Beer Camp. Contrary to how it sounds, this is not some type of half-assed training program for the exceedingly popular sport of Beer Pong.
Beer Camp is a once a month opportunity for anyone in the company to lead a discussion about any topic they are passionate about. This can range from obviously relevant topics, like web development or social media, to the not-so-obvious, like American Idol and self-defense.
Inspired by a scene from the last episode of Mad Men, I partnered with Heidi Skinner, our Director of Emerging Media, to lead a debate about what is more important, the message or the medium. We had a room full of people from multiple disciplines - media, technology, creative, content, project and account management.
"It will take two seconds to find some kid that can write a prose poem to a potato chip." "Wow, Duck, you really value creative, huh?"
So here are the points and counterpoints for each side that we started with:
The Message:
1. Emotion: More than ever before, consumers need to feel connected to brands. Emotional messaging achieves that.
2. Influence: A channel cannot influence a buying... Read more
Display Is Dead! There, I Said It.
Forgive me if this post tapers off somewhere in the middle. I will most likely be fielding calls from my friends on the publisher side as well as the ad networks.
Remember when people started saying the :30 spot was dead? That the microsite was dead? That newspapers were dead? Actually, newspapers are dead. I read the Chicago Tribune this morning. Ouch. But the :30 spot is still alive and kicking and microsites are plentiful. So why, do you ask, would I declare the death of digital display ads? Oh, where to begin...
Reponse rates aren't going to go back up. Sure, you can work with some of the better BT networks like Yahoo! (through Blue Lithium) and broad reach networks like Valueclick, but how much of a lift will that really give you? One percent? Two percent? Is that enough to make an impact? Storing data allows for better targeting and the POSSIBILITY, based on a better profile of the user, of an action. Nothing more. Maybe you are just looking for eyeballs and argue that this type of buy provides them. Hold that thought.
Search wins. So after reading the above paragraph, many people probably cried BS. That's "bullshit," by the... Read more
