I am beginning to wonder if online brand advertising ever works...I know this is probably a heretical thing to say to Media Week readers. But I think it would be good to open up a debate.I spoke to someone about advertising on facebook for example and they said they never look at the ads. They are too busy doing other things. chatting with their friends etc. Occasionally I notice brand adverts but they are outside of where I am. Or they are just irrelevant. They are not in the conversations. They don't relate to me. They are not a natural part of the blogs etc. I'm wondering if they really work at all. People might think they do. But surely Google ad words is now the most effective way of advertising. There is hardly any branding there. Does brand really matter online? Does it carry any really weight? I think the key medium online is the people. That is the key medium and companies need to be communicating with people ie their customers, honestly and authentically. Otherwise they will not get anywhere. I think it is so hard for big companies to do this because on the one side they have PR agencies determined to uphold their 'messages' and on the other hand they have ad agencies demanding bigger brand messages. It's very niche online. Can ad agencies and PR agencies relate to more open conversations with key audiences and provide messages that are highly targetted and highly relevant.
For example take hotel advertising. Who books a holiday now without checking what real people have said first on Trip Adviso? If the reviews of a particular hotel are rubbish, no amount of brand advertising is going to work and no amount of brand advertising is going to change my mind and no amount of PR messages is going to convince me. It has to be different. Someone from the offending hotel itself has to read what has been said. Do something about it and talk honestly to the people about the changes they have made to their hotel etc and demonstrate they are listening. And no agency can actually do that if it is to be meaningful. Either companies ditch agencies altogether and start afresh or agencies need to radically reinvent themselves to remain relevant online.
www.itsopen.co.uk
