Forget Advertising. You’re in the Content Business

One of the most fundamental, powerful shifts that the internet is causing has to do with how programming, or content, is distributed. If you have access to a server, you can essentially create your own distribution channel that, theoretically anyway, can compete for eyeballs with any other channel, including the big TV networks. The recent writers strike only accelerated the shift. There was a huge spike in online video viewing during the strike, and my hunch is a lot of people will never go back to their old TV viewing habits.

This is why all hell is breaking loose in every industry that’s connected in any way to the old models of creating and distributing content. Our clients  are right in the middle of the chaos, desperately looking for a partner to help sort it all out. Of course, there is no shortage of potential partners lined up.  

At Digitas, like most other large interactive agencies, we have a group of people that specializes in helping marketers create and distribute branded content. So do many  traditional ad agencies. And media planning and buying companies. And PR agencies. And just about everyone else. It is the Wild West, and not everyone is going to survive if we’re all trying to do the same thing for a limited amount of our client’s money.  

I’ll be discussing this issue more in future posts, but here is a good example of a CPG company investing in branded content. It is for the Tassimo Hot Beverage system. Tassimo is a Kraft brand, and they worked with Ogilvy to create a series of webisodes featuring an annoying guy named Bob who is obsessed with Tassimo, among other things. Here’s what Adweek said about the campaign.

We can debate whether the production/entertainment value compares favorably with the content that is its competition, and whether the distribution strategy—creating a website, http://www.whohiredbob.com/, instead of partnering with a site that already has significant traffic—is a good one. What is not open to debate, however, is that this is an example of how the advertising business—and the TV, media buying, broadcast production and PR businesses—are forever changing before our eyes.

Bare Breasts for a Good Cause

What could possibly cause scores of women to take pictures of their bare breasts and upload them to a website for all the world to see? Well, any number of things, I suppose, but what we’re talking about today is a controversial new site launched by Schick, the manufacturer of women’s razors, in Canada.   

The site is called, quite simply, The Booby Wall—you’ll find it here. The effort is part of a larger campaign to raise awareness that breast cancer can be successfully treated if it is detected early enough. According to the folks at Schick and ReThink, the charity the Booby Wall supports, many women, particularly young ones, are intimidated and confused about how to do a breast self-examination.  The site gives them simple instructions on how to do so.  

Many of the uploaded pictures include dedications to women who died from breast cancer. Others are dedicated to loved ones who beat the disease. But the most powerful and poignant photos are of cancer survivors themselves.  

Of course, not everyone thinks that the Booby Wall is a good idea. Take a look at the comments on the bottom of this article. While I can understand the critics, for my money this is a bold, brave move for Schick. It has lots of people talking about breast cancer and self-exams, and that’s a good thing. I only wish that the connection to Schick could be just a little more evident. It seems like you could exchange the Schick logo with that of virtually any brand aimed at women.  As companies  move more money into cause marketing campaigns such as this, ROI will undoubtedly become increasingly important.  

Special thanks to MaryGrace Whalen of Digitas for sending this my way. 

Down With Campaign Sites, Up With Product Sites

In my last post, I discussed how short-term campaign microsites were rapidly falling out of favor with both CPG clients and agencies. And for good reason. Since most traffic to these sites is driven by online ad campaigns (with an average clickthrough rate hovering stunningly close to zero) it is simply too expensive to drive significant numbers of people to a site where, chances are, they will probably never return.  

However, I do not put product sites in this same category. Far from it. In fact, I believe that most CPG companies are not getting nearly enough benefit out of these sites. The reason? The sites don’t provide enough value to consumers. Simply putting information about your product on the site is not nearly good enough. You need to offer consumers something else. And what might that be? Preferably, something your brand/product can own.  

For example, one of the clients that I work with at Digitas is one of the world’s most popular laundry detergents. They attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to their site every month, by positioning themselves as an expert in stain removal. 

So what can your CPG client or product own? Figure that out, provide information and tools that give value to consumers, and you will have a product site that helps build your brand and increase customer loyalty.

Microsites are so, like, 2005

I read an article in Adweek a couple of weeks ago essentially questioning whether microsites were in the process of dying a quick death. Based on what I am seeing in the marketplace, I don’t think it’s happening yet. In fact, microsites make up a lot of the work that you see highlighted in this blog. Because so many clients and agencies are still creating fantastic—and fantastically expensive—microsites. But based on what my clients are telling me, and what the measurement and analytics folks at Digitas tell me, I believe we will be seeing fewer and fewer microsites. And I think this will happen sooner than later.  

As loyal readers of Attention Shoppers!  know, we have long been an advocate of placing your messages (or, better still, offering something of value for your customers) where consumers are already hanging out, as opposed to trying to come up with something that’s interesting enough to get them to leave what they are doing and go to your website—fabulous though it may be. 

So while there are still a ton of consumer packaged goods marketers trying to drive consumers to microsites through online campaigns (with a clickthrough rate of less than .05%), smart marketers and agencies are doing deals with Facebook, iVillage, Yahoo and AOL. Not to mention tons of other sites where hundreds of thousands, or millions for the big names, of consumers go every month. CPG marketers are either attracting consumers’ attention on these sites with clever banner ads (which do what TV and print ads do from an awareness perspective) or offer much deeper experiences with a content partnership deal with the site or rich media banner. 

Of course, that’s not to say that all websites for CPG companies are a bad idea. Product sites are a must. And some of them are working harder than ever to build brands. But that’s a subject for another night.