Integrated marketing: the new "traditional" advertising?

What does traditional advertising mean today? Or more importantly, how long will that term mean something to the industry? How long was television advertising around before it became part of the "traditional" media mix? Was direct mail ever in the traditional arena, or was that all integrated before it became a buzz word in the late '90s? I don't think there is any right answer here, but it is worth considering as we have finally come full circle to what I believe is the true definition of "integrated marketing."

Marketers are actually starting to use technology proactively. For example, Google recently announced plans to acquire dMarc Broadcasting www. dmarc.net, a company that advertises on the radio, paying up to $1.1 billion for ads. Google plans to distribute AdWords via radio this way, says Google VP of Advertising Sales Tim Armstrong.

Having a Web site for your brand or company does not qualify you as participating in integrated marketing/media. That may have been the case five years ago, but not today. Now companies have to stay on top of a variety of new technologies and message delivery vehicles, such as blogs, podcasts, satellite radio, Tivo, video phones, RSS feeds and the list goes on.

As an expert resource in communication strategies, marketing agencies must become experts on new technologies by developing a methodology and best practice. As we've witnessed through history, technology continues to grow and expand at an astounding rate. As marketers, we can't afford to ignore these applications or the ability to communicate with targeted one-on-one messaging.

MTV introduced a whole new medium to music. Did video ever really kill the radio star? No, but it sure did take the customer experience and expectations to another level.

We need to keep up to date with new technologies, because as soon as we think we have them all figured out, there will be 20 more technologies or digital delivery vehicles available to take away our customers' attention.

At Osborn & Barr Communications, one of our largest services is media buying. Over the past few years, the industry and clients continue to challenge all of us to think differently and show more return on investment for dollars spent.

Behavioral advertising is one way we can do this. Site network companies track user behaviors and patterns, what content users are reading, where they come from, where they go, what they purchase online, their most visited pages--and it's all tied back to the user's profile including location/zip code. Yahoo is the most popular and sophisticated at doing this.

What does that mean to us? It means we no longer have to rely on running banner ads on industry vertical portals. For example, we could work with Yahoo to define a media buy with the following parameters:

* Target registered users who marked their profession as agriculture and live within a 50-mile radius of a city that is home to one of the Big 10 of Big 12 Universities.

* Purchase space on the college sports section within Yahoo for all game days, two days prior and three days post, serving the ad only to those identified in our criteria.

* Look at the most visited pages where users go immediately after looking at the sports section, and buy that inventory for a discounted rate.

Of course, it does not become a successful campaign without measurement, so, it is important to have an action built within the ad that drives them to your site or landing page where you can allow the user to interact with the brand and hopefully capture additional data and create a new relationship with follow-up messaging.

The Web was not just a boom and a bust in the '90s, it was the discovery phase of bigger things to follow.

With that, has the Web become the new "traditional" advertising medium, or simply justified the term "integrated"? One thing is for certain, it has reinvented the role of the advertising agency.

BUSY AMERICANS

We are past the time when you had to look at your communication plan and say "should we consider the Internet?" The following list demonstrates how you need to target your spend in every medium, including utilizing online delivery vehicles. Additionally, the messaging needs to have a more direct impact as society multi-tasks at a higher rate than ever before.

Multi-tasking Human Access: While watching television

* 74% read the newspaper

* 66% go online

While listening to the radio

* 47% read the newspaper

* 57% go online

* 18% watch TV

While reading the newspaper

* 52% watch TV

* 50% listen to the radio

While on-line

* 20% read the newspaper

* 52% listen to the radio

* 62% watch TV

Source: BIGresearch SIMM survey--Oct 2003

Mark Green ([e-mail]) is the vice president, director of digital marketing for Osborn & Barr Communications. He is responsible for the overall strategy and integration of technologies in order to provide Osborn & Barr clients with one-to-one communications.