Not new media, but new marketing: ad:tech panelist

Texting is now the native tongue of the socially active.

Thus said Nick Brien, worldwide CEO of Universal McCann, New York, and panelist Nov. 6 at the ad:tech New York keynote presentation, “The New Media Universe: Forging a Model of Interdependence.” He said strategic communications and consumer-context planning are vital to connecting with the today’s media-savvy savvy audience.

“Irritating and intruding into a consumer’s life is no longer the way to connect to a potential customer,” Mr. Brien said. “This isn’t about new media. It’s about new marketing.”

An overcapacity of products and services calls for branding in order to stand out and be an experience, he told interactive marketing executives gathered at the nation’s leading online advertising show.

Brands need to adapt as media changes, Mr. Brien said.

For example, 65 percent of people chose the Internet over any other media. One of every three shoppers uses social networks to make purchase decisions. Additionally, 70 percent of mobile users send text messages.

New media channels are also emerging with the recent digital phenomenon.

“Love the digital world,” Mr. Brien said. “Bring it in. We are not in the business of keeping media companies alive. It’s all about the consumer.”

Consumers generate insight and that’s why it is imperative to understand how users behave, how they live and what they need, he said.

“Media enhances personality,” he said.

Users are actively generating content and participating in brand development.

Mr. Brien recommends involving consumers through conversation, collaboration, engagement and participation.

“The consumers want to play when they are included,” he said.

In this environment, advertising agencies need to decide what they stand for.

“Agencies need to decide if they are in the agency business or if they are a business with agency services,” Mr. Brien said. “As an agency you really need to talk to your consumer.”

Persuasion is one way to get through to customers, but influence and persuasion is the best elixir for success.

Targeting the mass audience should be a data-driven effort, Mr. Brien said. It’s time to wipe-out the incumbent legacy models.

“Users are creating credibility for brands,” Mr. Brien said.

From Mobile Marketer By Giselle Abramovich