Letters - 12-19 September 2006

With all the hype surrounding online communities such as these, as wellas content sharing communities like MySpace and Bebo, it's important
that we realise just how seriously some people are taking the digital
revolution. They are utilising technology to the point where brands and
consumers can co-exist in two different worlds, real and virtual.

As communities such as these move from niche to the mainstream, we
should give credit to the brands involved for grasping the opport-unity
to use a new form of "non- traditional media".

Indeed, perhaps we can now expect to see other marketing techniques,
such as promotional and experiential, cropping up soon in Second Life et
al ... take a virtual new car for a virtual test drive for 48 hours? It
could be happening on your PC soon.

Another closely-related sector that marketers should also consider is
in-game advertising, especially with the launch of next generation
consoles. This is a market that could be worth £1bn-plus within 10
years, according to some reports. The opportunity for marketers is not
just getting your brand placed within the game, but also using internet
technology (linked into the consoles) to continually update the ad over
time.

With a title like GTA Vice City achieving worldwide sales of 35 million
and with a lifespan of up to five years, there is a big potential market
out there for in-game advertising.

When relevant, these are two more increasingly important media sectors
that we need to consider as an integral part of any strategic and
creative campaign for our clients.

EXPERIENTIAL CAN BE MEASURED - EVEN IN THE UK

Justin Singh, Managing partner, Onepartners, Sydney, Australia

I was very interested to hear Jez Paxman's view of experiential campaign
effectiveness and his example of Sledge's recent experiential campaign
for the Peugeot 1007, which incorporated text messaging as a measurement
mechanic, followed up by qualitative interviews (How to get emerging
media's measure, page 24, 25 July).

Great work and, if he can measure text messages, he's got it made,
although I'm not sure what measuring text messages has got to do with
anything. I'm sure there's an answer there somewhere.

As for Paul Ephremsen from ID's reference to proximity to a retailer and
measuring immediate sales - that's more like it.

Here in Australia (I'm originally a Pommie, so I can take the piss),
we're usually "behind the UK", but maybe not in the experiential
space.

Most experiential-based communication programmes, which Onepartners (a
brand experience agency, currently 2006 Emerging Agency of the Year)
develops, are absolutely "measurable".

For example, for a number of recent programmes, we have developed
measured footfall, engagements, demonstrations and sales (linked to a
gift with purchase). We also did pre and post-brand engagement
tracking.

Also, after looking at a lot of the crap that some (definitely not all)
UK agencies are pumping out, they should focus on architecting the
actual programmes first and worrying about measurement once they've got
that sorted.

It's all linked to the fact that most of these so (self)-called
experiential agencies developing these "brand experiences" aren't even
brand experience agencies. Most seem to be launching experiential
"divisions". For God's sake, get with the programme.

Brand experience agencies are a new breed. At Onepartners, our entire
philosophy is about creating branded experiences which people "choose"
to engage with, versus the old interruptive model which most "creative"
agencies (and others for that matter) subscribe to.

It's a panic reaction to the fact that in today's "consumer in control
of their own media" landscape, interruptive communication programmes are
becoming less and less effective.

TELESALES STAFF SHOULD GO BACK TO THE BASICS

Bob Morrell, Director, Reality Train (sales and management trainers)

Jem Duducu is right to criticise the current standard of telesales
(Telesales should be made to go back to basics, Letters, 22 August).

We regularly train delegates who are described to us as "experienced"
and also managers who say "there's nothing much you can teach me!", only
to find out the stark truth - they have forgotten the basics.

There are loads of media companies which struggle with a) banks of leads
that they have not bothered to follow up; b) managers who don't
understand the value of an incoming sales inquiry, and c) a core group
of battle-hardened "veterans" who look down their noses at anything
remotely new.

At an online media course recently, some "experienced" sales executives
just couldn't see the purpose of certain developments simply because of
"I'd never do that" syndrome. It's about fear and a basic lack of
knowledge. If change is essential in the modern media world, we must get
the basics right, otherwise we'll never change the way we should and
we'll always be behind.

OLD SCHOOL PUBLISHERS SHOULD REAP LOCAL REWARDS

Guy Phillipson, chief executive Internet Advertising Bureau

Instead of dwelling on the gloomy news that regional newspaper
circulations are at an all-time low, there is a golden opportunity not
being fully addressed that will help retain profits and satisfy readers'
needs.

Regional papers' strengths are their campaigning agendas and focus on
what matters in local communities, but some media owners are lagging
behind when it comes to applying this to their websites. Rather than an
online space that can often be treated as an afterthought, regional
papers should look to their national counterparts and the popularity of
community sites such as MySpace, YouTube and so on, to attract and
retain audiences.

National newspaper owners who have invested in an internet offering with
dedicated online teams, regular updates and extra features such as
podcasts, blogs, RSS and comment threads are providing consumers with
even more reasons to stick with age-old masthead brands that maintain
loyalty and reassure advertisers.

Not only that but of course online offers the opportunity to serve ads
specific to geographical location, not only making the advertising
relevant to your audience, but potentially attracting local B2B
marketers too.

There's no quick fix, but taking a step back and rethinking their online
strategy is a legacy investment that will help old school publishers
reap local rewards.

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