New Media Vs. Traditional Media

Feb 22, 2009 by Mark Maier

Interesting that the proliferation of new media has brought with it statements that traditional media is dead or dying, I don't agree because I know how to determine the Return on Investement for traditional media while new media is still determining what to measure, how to source and track it, and what truly determines Return On Investment.  For those of you that have paid attention to the posts on this blog you already know that Luce Performance Group is testing Return On Interactive Investment formula's with our Interactive Client, Castanet.net in Kelowna, British Columbia. We'll keep you posted as to when we release that to the public but when I was reading the article titled "Free Agent: Something Old, Something New" from MediaPost, the primary thought I had was that most of the marketers right now are struggling with measurement....

"there is at least this one area, claimed advertising effectiveness, where traditional media still outperform emerging media. And that's important. We need to consider not only the potential of new channels, but also the reality of their current performance. And, per the Yankelovich study, that performance is ... not so hot.

"Of course people said they like ads better in traditional media. It's what they're used to." While a fair enough conclusion, this is also something not to gloss over: Consumers are accustomed to the old, interruptive model of advertising. That's not to say they prefer it, necessarily, but chances are when you poll people about advertising today, the traditional, marketer-tells-you-what-they-want-you-to-believe flavor comes to mind first. As we know, that kind of advertising monologue doesn't work well in the digital world.

"No kidding they don't like advertising in emerging media. It sucks." Duh. Having tried to modify old ads for new media and failing miserably, marketers need to accept they must blow up the old blueprints and start all over again. Clunky, inappropriate messaging in the digital space hurts both people's experiences in the new channels and brand perceptions.

"Are you seriously suggesting that advertising can't work in new media because the experience is too personal?" What Mr. Smith said was that the self-directed digital experience is "not necessarily a place where advertising is welcome." Fair enough. But that's true only if you define advertising per the old model of interruptive, one-way communication. When marketers such as Nike iD behave appropriately within the personal digital space, it's profound how powerful those communications can be.

"So we all just have one more excuse to cling to the sinking ship of old media. Great." It's possible to take Mr. Smith's point as precisely as "don't abandon the mainstream media quite yet." Another interpretation is that, for those who have not cracked a new digital communications model, it might be best to stick with the tried-and-true rather than to forge clumsily into new media. It's unwise to dive in without having created your communications expressly for the environment in which they'll be consumed."

I believe that adopting new media and pairing it with traditional media is what will provide our clients with the highest opportunity for success.  Interactive media campaigns that include display advertising, video, search along with branding and top-of-mind generation campaigns on Radio & TV in the correct percentages of how consumers shop.  62% of consumers still shop Top Of Mind Awareness while 38% shop Price & Item, adjust your marketing campaign accordingly.
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