iMedia Connection - ad:tech blog

People who make a living in online advertising sometimes pooh-pooh concerns about privacy. But that was not the case for the panelists at a conference sponsored by Better Advertising (full disclosure: Better Advertising is a client of WIT Strategy). BlueKai SVP Alex Hooshmand said he gets “freaked out” by direct mail: “They know my name. [...]

It's likely not a revelation to anyone in the ad:tech or iMedia audience to hear that online video is a powerful medium. We see evidence of it every day, and few brands would dispute that their marketing programs could benefit from a deeper investment in the channel.
But not many make that investment. And even fewer [...]

Fragmentation means it's harder to maintain relationships and cut through the noise. That's why there needs to be a continuous ongoing dialogue to maintain relevance and maintain cues to adapt to and overcome the competitive marketplace. The medium is consumer-defined. The reality check of these conversations is that they’re happening with or without your brand or business—so join it.

So far, at ad:tech New York this year, the theme that seems to be emerging is that marketing has permanently evolved from the one-way conversations of old to developing an ongoing conversation with customers. While that's certainly not a new concept these days, there are certainly more tools, technologies, and platforms available to help marketers [...]

What is "digital dialogue"? It's a paradigm shift from limited-duration "campaigns" to enduring, "always on" dialogues. It's enabled by digital channels, technologies, and processes. It was known as CRM, ECRM, loyalty programs, but there are many more channels now. Brands grow 4x faster when there’s conversation that’s positive. The digital dialogue changes brands—witness the Tropicana and Gap logo changes, where consumers rebelled against the new brand identities and forced the marketers to return to the old versions. So who’s really running the show? You guessed it-- Consumers.