Tim Frank Andersen at Danish company In2media. Photo: Christiaan Dirksen
You can’t just buy earned media
12:00 PM 11/8/2011
“It’s not either or. It’s both.”
The words of Tim Frank Andersen from Danish company In2media when we ask whether the marketing of the future will be totally digital.
Tim Frank Andersen on loyalty and credibility
- There’s a shift away from loyalty concepts linked to physical points, discounts or products to so-called gamification, which is more about status and access. Modern loyalty concepts are based on social inclusion. We humans are attracted by power and privileges and by feeling that we’ve been chosen. This is more important than the product itself. It can be enough to have a virtual value, a digital product that never really becomes anything.
The most common mistake in the field of marketing is to view digital and print as two separate channels. Where traditional channels such as print, TV and outdoor advertising create awareness and interest, there is still a long way to go before the actual purchase. Digital platforms create an immediate business opportunity.
“It’s a question here of finding synergy effects, not choosing one or the other.
We have to see how we can best combine different media to have an impact,” says Tim Frank Andersen.
There is also a shift from acquired media to earned media.
“The next generation’s consumers are what we refer to as digital natives. They take it for granted that they can find whatever they want, when they want it and how they want it,” says Tim Frank Andersen.
So how to reduce the step from offer to concrete action?
One exciting way is to integrate, for example, QR codes into print.
“But it’s only when we can segment information about the user that it gets really interesting. Who’s doing the scanning? Where is the person? What kind of phone was used for the scan?”
The trend has moved from traditional marketing, where whoever shouts loudest wins, to a reality in which the consumer is increasingly the one deciding.
The modern media landscape is fragmented, and communication has to be adapted down to the individual level.
“This places tougher demands on logistics. More and more people take it for granted that they themselves should decide which information they receive,” says Tim Frank Andersen.
And he doesn’t think that things will go so far that paper will disappear.
“But its use may become marginalised occasionally. So far no media have disappeared. Look at the record player. That’s still around. There are fewer users, but at the same time they’re more dedicated,” he says, continuing:
“We often have a tendency to jump to conclusions about effects. Ten years ago we truly believed in the paperless office. But take a look around you ...”
He goes back to the importance of viewing developments in a longer perspective, of measuring, evaluating and reassessing.
“Only then do we know whether we have to choose one path or whether it’s more cost-efficient to combine media.”