OMMA Panel: Search & Client-Side Marketing
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Written By Reprise Media | September 28, 2005 | Share This
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The slide on the big screen contained a rather daunting opening statement:
“RESOLVED: The client-side marketer will decisively shift to online to lead integrated communications planning.”
Now it was up to the panelists Cammie Dunaway of Yahoo; Sean Connolly of Intel; Virna Brooks of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield; and Jeff Bell of Chrylser & Jeep Group […]
The slide on the big screen contained a rather daunting opening statement:
“RESOLVED: The client-side marketer will decisively shift to online to lead integrated communications planning.”
Now it was up to the panelists Cammie Dunaway of Yahoo; Sean Connolly of Intel; Virna Brooks of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield; and Jeff Bell of Chrylser & Jeep Group to back it up, in 45 minutes or less.
Moderator Jeff Brooks, Managing Director, Atmosphere BBDO kicked things off by posing the question which would frame the rest of the discussion:
“How do you, as a client, make the argument that online should be the cornerstone of an integrated media plan?”
After lots of talking (including plenty of kvetching about measurement) a few key themes emerged:
On the role of online in the purchase process:
Bell- In automotive you have registration, so you can track the buyer much more easily. We have shifted dollars towards things that are more measurable in the last few years, like search. We don’t know if they’re automatically better, but we know that we can at least improve upon it.
On the nuances of the search channel:
Brooks- There are two points of contact in the insurance biz - the employer and the consumer. A lot of agencies and media sellers don’t get that we are first focused on B2B, not direct to consumer. They also don’t get the legal restrictions or how to work within them. This is the challenge.
On selling search ROI to doubters:
Bell- We’ve moved from a world of surfing to a world of searching. People are no longer passing through - they identify and act upon what interests them. The problem is measurability, we don’t have effective measurements of the consumer research process.
On segmentation opportunities online:
Connolly- Segmentation is certainly nothing new for marketers. The pain of the Chief Marketing Officer today is: How do you define success? No one knows how to measure ‘The Big Idea’. They’re still looking at an individual banner.
On the success curve for search:
Dunaway- A lot of marketers take a short-term view, they don’t give the online channel adequate time to make a turn-around if it’s faltering. The expectations can be a little unrealistic.
The panel closed with a Q&A and a few final words from moderator Brooks.
The Take-Away: The medium is the new message (if only we could measure it).
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