March 21, 2004
blogs as mass-advertising medium (cont.)
Danny made a good point in a previous post:
That is where I think the ultimate evolution of this concept will take us. Let's say Ford creates a blog for F-150 enthusiasts. Ford gets to take advantage of a DM setup with the added advantage of actually creating relationships with customers and potential customers--it's a cheap, effective way of creating buzz among a highly targeted audience for your new projects AND a simple way to gather highly targeted market research.Plus, automotive accessory manufacturers, hunting/fishing/outdoors manufacturers and retailers, and probably a hundred other tpyes of companies can place an ad in an environment where easily 80 percent of its readership is in their target market as well (Isn't that pretty much what happened with Hugh and AdRants?).
In this light, credibility and readability are going to be paramount concerns when companies set out to create a blog for self-promotion, as opposed to the "I wanna be like Jennifer Anniston" complexes driving the ad placement for TV.
Ah. Nice to see somebody who gets the whole "blogvertising" schtick.
I had a phone conversation with a big-ad-agency friend in Chicago the other day.
"Sorry to be harsh," he said. "I don't care what kind of media it is- newspaper, magazine, website, whatever- but all that matters to a big advertising client is how many people read your thing and what kind of people they are."
I actually do agree with that; it's exactly what they care about. Am I mistaken to think such a narrow view might be wrong?