Q&A with Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson, partner of advertising, marketing and public relations firm Thompson & Bender.
It”™s no secret the recession hit ad spending. Has it loosened? Redirected?
Bracken-Thompson: “We have seen a loosening of marketing dollars during the last year within all business categories. I think that many businesses and services have finally begun to realize that they are not going to automatically bounce back to the pre-2008 levels. In order to grow their customer base they need to communicate their strengths and that’s where marketing and PR comes in. The impact of social media on communications has also sparked the rise in the marketing and PR business category. Social media has become a viable and measurable communications and marketing tool and many businesses are now willing to earmark dollars specifically for it. Our agency has a full time social media director and we are now conducting ongoing social media campaigns for many of our clients with measurable and impressive results.”
Is the best ad campaign one that integrates social marketing, events, and direct mail? Do companies and their marketing people need to be more nimble?Â
“The most effective campaigns now are multi-platform. For example, car companies still use traditional advertising like direct mail, electronic and print ads but they are also putting heavy emphasis on digital ads, broad band video commercials, event marketing, social media, e-blasts, product placement in movies and on TV, buzz marketing and celebrity gifting all focused on growing their product’s appeal within their targeted demographic group. It”™s all about 360 marketing and reacting quickly! Immediacy is what makes the Internet such a powerful and popular form of communications.”
Is the consumer different now? Meaning, are we more brand-loyal now than ever before?
“Consumers today are more brand conscious than ever before in our history. Through the constant bombardment of political news, entertainment, fashion and celebrity news hitting them from every direction including the Internet, TV, film and mobile devices, consumers are seeking out the latest and most popular product or service at the most economical cost. It”™s become more competitive than ever before to keep your brand ”˜top of mind”™ and make your product or service stand out from the rest, which is why I believe we are seeing an increase in marketing and PR budgets. Consumers have short memories and are overwhelmed by the clutter. Clients are realizing that they need to stay visible and keep consumers aware of their unique selling points, service and value on a continual basis or they”™ll be lost in the noise.”
Occupy Wall Street. What have marketers learned from the political sit-in?
“What has been demonstrated by Occupy Wall Street is the power of social media in communicating. It is similar to other large-scale movements such as the recent overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, which allowed large groups of disparate, but like-minded people to organize and take mass actions in an almost instantaneous manner. Marketers are looking at this not from a political perspective, but from how the power of ”˜group-think”™ could be harnessed to market consumer goods and services. Marketers have learned that in today”™s world of immediate communications, you cannot ignore the ”˜few complainers”™Â who are not pleased with the status quo. Those ”˜few,”™ through social media channels, have the power to grow into a force to be reckoned with. As a result of Occupy Wall Street, one thing has become clear ”“ if those ”˜few”™ have the force to topple governments, they certainly have the power to destroy a brand.”
A year of social media integration
Advertising and marketing pros are confident ad budgets will continue to grow in the coming year, but in new capacities to fit a more fickle consumer.
“I think that although we have seen shifts in budgets toward digital from traditional, media spend continues,” said Rodica Ceslov, president of Wild Frog Studio, a design, marketing and advertising firm in Tarrytown, and outgoing president of The Advertising Club of Westchester, a post she has held since 2006.
In 2011, the trend was one toward integration of social media into existing marketing channels.
“There was more flexibility in the way budgets were outlined to allow for shift space in ROI (return on investment,)” Ceslov said. “There are more measuring tools available to set goals for measurement. We cut budgets from areas that were low performers and shifted them somewhere else.”
The buzz phrase of the year was “lead generation,” and social media avenues gladly complied.
“Social media was content-centered in 2011 and into 2012, especially with the Facebook IPO, which will bring a cash influx, we expect to see more technology products and believe mobile will be an area of growth,” Ceslov said.
Expect a demand for educated employees who have multiple skill sets.
“We saw a major shift in 1968, an explosion of creativity,” Ceslov said. “Now another shift has occurred because conversations are happening differently. We”™re not one-way messaging. There is this whole conversation that did not exist before.”
