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Why Does New Media Matter? Because United Breaks Guitars.

~ K. Quesenberry ~ Leave a comment

Consumers are creating their own content and marketers are monitoring their activity to react. New media has made the single voice a force to be reckoned with. Have you seen the YouTube video “United Breaks Guitars?” It is one man’s effort to get United Airlines to pay for the guitar their baggage handlers broke. It is up to 8.1 million views. On the best nights last fall the  Jay Leno Show pulled in 6.2 million viewers. And United Airline’s own magazine Hemispheres only has an annual circulation of 4.5 million.

Why does new media matter? Because Blending an iPhone on YouTube lead to a five-fold increase in sales for Blendtec. Because CEOs are communicating directly with employees and customers. Sun Microsystems CEO Blog gets 400,000 hits a month. Because the cable company is actually changing its image. Comcastcares is improving customer service by monitoring negative comments on Twitter and responding directly. Because in three days the American Red Cross raised $7 million for its Haiti relief efforts via text messaging.

What we’re really talking about is anything that promotes interaction (consumer to consumer, company to consumer, consumer to company) through digital technology. Is it all still new? Dot coms had their boom and bust over ten years ago. The FTC suggests a six-month limit on the use of the word new in advertising. So is it time for a new name for new media? I humbly suggest “Interactive Digital Media.”

New media is digital. And it matters because it is interactive.

It’s Activigital.

Is New Media Killing Traditional Media’s Star?

~ K. Quesenberry ~ Leave a comment

Because of it’s newness and measurability new media seams to get a lot of hype in the marketing industry. But I believe smart marketers should not expect a blog or viral video to market an entire brand. Traditional advertising still has its place and does things that social median cannot. Brands communicate most effectively if they send a unified message through multiple media – integrated marketing communications.

Bryan Einsenberg from ClickZ tells us what social media can do. It is good at relationship building, creating goodwill, and improving customer service. It can also help your company communicate with early- and middle-stage buyers and push them closer to a sale. On one hand, it helps your customers communicate with you and everyone they know. On the other hand, it helps you listen to what potential buyers are talking about. Social media helps you find opportunities to please customers and helps keep you focused on their needs.

But social media does have its limitations. If marketers think putting up a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page will build huge traffic and sales overnight, they’re kidding themselves. Relationships need nurturing and social media can’t drive hundreds of thousands of new qualified visitors to your website or store. It doesn’t enable them to control the messaging and dialogue about their company. And it cannot be their primary channel for marketing.

A recent Forrester research report talks about the importance of choosing the right media mix to create awareness and drive purchase. Americans use many different media — from TV to blogs — some media help drive brand awareness and some drive loyalty. Some media have a young, urban audience and some have an older, rural one. To create effective marketing it is important to have the right media mix targeted to the right audience to give you the best returns.

Will new media kill traditional media or is there room for both?