About 3 weeks ago I did a post about TV pitchman Bill Mays and how the corporate world (think Madison Avenue) is now starting to incorporate direct response principles into their advertising campaigns.
Ever since I made that post, about 26% of the traffic coming to this blog was generated by “Billy Mays” related searches. And this is a good example of how new media marketing works (blogs, podcasts, Twitter, etc.). I didn’t interrupt people with an advertisement about Billy Mays…instead, by their own free will, they found me.
And they also found something else; content instead of a sales pitch, as well as a dialog that they could engage in…where they could leave comments, ask questions or share anything else they felt like. This is vastly different from traditional marketing, where it’s all about the monologue (I talk, you listen).
Well it turns out, that just like with direct response, this “new media stuff” is no longer being ignored by Madison avenue either. Even corporate giants like Verizon (#17 in the Fortune 500) have recently begun using Twitter as part of their marketing repertoire.
But based on what I’ve seen and read so far, the big advertising agencies are having a hard time wrapping their heads around new media. And it’s not surprising, since most folks at these firms are formally trained in advertising methods that are the antithesis of new media.
Or in other words, they are book smart. And with new media you have to be street smart.
There is no syllabus or degree program available for new media. Those of us involved in it are relying mostly on our intuition, instincts and what we learn from trial and error (as well as from each other). In a sense, we are making it up as we go.
I wish I could tell you that it’s sexier than that; that there’s an underground new media club, requiring a secret handshake, where everyone meets once a month and speaks in muted whispers.
But that’s not the case. New media is being fueled largely by people…where if you dropped them in a cornfield with $50 and a laptop…they’d build both an audience and a business with it.
Like I said, street smarts, not book smarts. That’s a key ingredient Madison Avenue hasn’t figured out yet. And for the sake of new media, I hope they never will.