Two Cents

As marketers we hear all the time about media fragmentation; about the gazillions of channels competing for attention and eyeballs. And we want a piece of the action.

So we plan our assault. We meticulously think about that new interactive game; the new video that we hope and pray will go viral; we slave over the content and design of our new microsite; we work tirelessly on developing a social media hub and any number of other clever interactive ideas. We work long and hard to get it just right. Then we put it out there. And we wait… and we wait… and we hope it will get traction.

There’s loads and loads of great interactive stuff out there competing for the consumer’s attention. Why is it some are hugely popular, some get a modest but loyal following and some fail to meet their potential?

Why?

Part of the answer lies in a disciplined approach to traffic driving. Unfortunately it’s not enough to just budget for building and creating an online asset. Equally important is the need to set aside funds to develop and implement a traffic driving strategy. That may mean a combination of on and off line media; it may be through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter; it may be through leveraging existing databases; it may be through a well executed media relations strategy; it may be through ongoing SEM and a focus on SEO – there’s no shortage of possibilities.

When clients say ‘yeah its unfortunate but we don’t have any money for traffic driving’ we should be alarmed. In my view it’s reason to reconsider whether it’s worth building and developing the asset in the first place.

Like I said with gazillions of choices, there’s no guarantee we’ll make any kind of impact if we don’t work and plan to get people to come see and experience what we’ve spent our money on.

What do you think?

Is there nothing that social media can’t touch?

Even the simple pleasure of admiring one of your fellow travellers in another car may never be the same again. It seems a new service in the USA called WhyHonk lets you get in touch with other drivers,  based on their number plate.

The WhyHonk service lets you send a voice message to any car you see by dialing a number and leaving their license plate number along with your message. It’s then converted to text and added to a searchable database. You can search your license plate number for messages online, on their mobile site, or register it to get the messages straight to your cellphone.

Of course, apart from leaving messages for potential suitors, this kind of thing could have some more practical applications – like simply letting drivers know they’ve left their lights on. Or letting them know the license plate of another driver who’s dinged their car.

Hats off to the smart folk behind WhyHonk. What will they think of next…?

We were recently thrown an interesting challenge by one of our great clients, QUT. Their engineering faculty is trying to reach current year 12 students who might be interested in studying engineering in 2009. That’s a pretty finite audience! And certainly one we puzzled over how best to reach for a good little while.

Our solution: Developing a competition microsite that caters to the traits of future engineers – an inherent curiosity and problem-solving ability. And so was born Are You Smart Enough? – which is giving away an iPhone each week to successful puzzle solvers. It’s been backed up by a crafty promotional strategy to drive traffic, including outdoor projections, bus shelter ads, street furniture, search, Facebook social ads, viral seeding on existing QUT social media assets, and print.

Progress so far has been fantastic. Amongst the thousands of entries, QUT have already collected ample qualified prospects – year 12 students interesting in studying engineering next year.

So, think you’re smart enough? Then go ahead and check it out!