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November 26, 2008
All The Advertising In The World Couldn't Save GM.
Breaking news from eMarketer...Online ad spending is slowing. Yes, the growth is still better than traditional advertising, but I think the news should serve as a sobering reminder that businesses must build sustainable value. What's the point?
The blog community is wagging this AM about the loss of popular, but under-revenued, services "I Want Sandy" and "Stikkit". More casualities of a world ripe with invention, but sometimes short on a sustainable business model. (Hey, Twitter peeps, what's the model :-| )
WIth Google's success, there is a rush of businesses seeking to capture eyeballs then figure how to monetize them, or businesses that will be built on ad revenue. In a 90s redux...the more things change, the more they stay the same?
So, how does GM fit in? The auto makers were the largest ad spenders in the world, but all that is changing now that they too realize that you can't advertise your way out of a "crappy-product box." So, they like lots of other big-spenders are trimming those inflated ad budgets. Potentially, this leaves lots of smaller, ad-fueled businesses hanging by a lifeline. Advertising couldn't save GM, and it probably won't be the fuel that powers the new American economy.
I was talking to a colleague last night about the state of publishing. Beyond the Wall Street Journal, few publishers have figured how to turn online properties into monetized assets. By comparison, a MarketingSherpa subscription is $397 (a $250 savings off the "regular" price ;-). They gave away product for a while to build an audience, but then listened and figured out where the "value" was. For companies like GM with an established audience, listening to customers becomes the key to long-term survival. (That, and being adaptable and understanding the immersive and interactive nature of media today.) Along the way, lots of businesses will need to transform, or face the scary end-game that GM is facing now.
Posted by jcioban at November 26, 2008 7:45 AM
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