Is the future of online, offline?
Posted in Brand Thinking, Digital, Marketing, Social Media on 08. Jun, 2010
Many aim for true integration when it comes to advertising campaigns. Some might argue that this is becoming harder with the increasing number of effective and measureable online channels available; others maintain that the best online campaigns will include an element of offline activity. Here’s my two cents…
Consider senses: Online only calls upon two senses (vision and sound), so if an offline element can add any further depth to that experience with touch or smell then better results will follow.
It’s all in the planning: There is no reason why online and offline can’t complement each other in additional ways when thrown into the mix together – Can a print campaign pay for itself by increasing ROI on paid search? Can a launch event & PR pay for itself by increasing e-DM open rates?
Physical engagement tools could be the missing link: I was very interested to learn about how companies such as Kyp (www.kyp.com) are bridging the gap between physical media and the digital world. Kyp have developed technologies such as the iKyp webkey with a view to physically engage consumers. The webkey is a business card sized/shaped cardboard promotional item, which allows the user to swivel out a webkey, place it in a USB port, and view a webpage that appears instantly and without any clicks. Now that is what I call integration!
The above [kind of] implies that we should think physical engagement first when planning how to meet online goals…
What do you think? Just a whim or the next big thing?
Hey Rich,
Apologies for side-stepping advertising slightly, but here at PN we work very much on the premise that integration is absolutely key to everything we do that would be termed as ‘online’ activity.
Ideally, a PR campaign (for example) today should be integrated both in terms of being a combination of online activity, real-world activity and traditional media activity, and being integrated with appropriate other disciplines.
In a nutshell, online and offline channels can be used to drive attendance to or awareness of a real world event/stunt/whatever, which in turn drives trad media coverage and provides rich content to chuck back into (a) online collateral and/or (b) advertising or other assorted marketing collateral.
Thanks for your comment, Chris. Sounds like you’ve got a good approach there. Naturally, and as I would expect, you and your colleagues at PN ‘get it’ – I suppose that is the difference between a good and a great agency. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you are aware, there are many doing more talking about integration than actually making it happen.
What do you think of the physical engagement tools element? A bit gimmicky or potentially brilliant?
Rich