Forget thinking big. The new conventional wisdom is to think small. More marketers are seeking to play “small ball,” by focusing on “microcasting” rather than broadcasting.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung, for instance, is circumventing the costliness of mass media such as network TV advertising by placing banner ads on 425 Websites. According to senior vice president Peter Weedfald, this enables the company to be in front of select segments of consumers—rather than wide swathes of buyers who may not have the slightest interest in its products–24-7 for a total of 1.7 billion impressions.
“The world is going to change; everyone is selling ad space. Here comes Google, here comes the Internet,” Weedfald said in a keynote address at last week’s CTAM cable TV marketing conference. “I can launch a brand-new product on the Internet in three days,” whereas it would take three months to place TV ads, he said, to debut a gadget.
“Long-term advertising has to go to people for which it’s interesting and meaningful,” agreed Peter Sealey, founder/CEO of marketing consultancy Los Altos Group and the former chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola. “You’ve got to insert in that stream advertising that’s appropriate, not just for the household, but for people in the household.”
Even marketers that are still thinking big are testing different approaches. Hence the increasing focus on product placement. Sealey cited Buick’s insertion in “Desperate Housewives”: The Eva Longoria character modeled at an auto show, effectively providing a three-minute ad for the auto manufacturer.
“I didn’t pick up on it,” Sealey marveled. “Five minutes later I said, ‘I just saw a commercial.’”
