Re: Why online advertising sucks

From: Marlena Schwarz <marlena_at_sharpe-partners.com>
Date: Tue 13 Mar 2001 14:16:18 -0600

JENNIFER MINTZ <jen_at_bam.net> wrote:

>The problem numero uno, these companies waste time and
>money on agencies whose core competencies are print,
>radio and TV - and not the Internet. It's like the blind
>leading the blind down a narrow path. No one wins."

Hallelujah. This is so true. Also, traditional agencies
are usually the first place where major brands go and
say "I've got a budget of 20 million dollars, how should
I spend it?" Well, guess what their expert advice is:
"TV of course, and maybe print too".

I will not argue that television is a great way to reach
a lot of people quickly. However, you can't discount
the fact that media buys for TV are a significant profit
center for big agencies. Add to that the fact that the
art directors all want to do something cool for their
portfolio...online ads just aren't "sexy" enough for
the big agencies to hold up and say "look what WE did,
great stuff huh?". Internet advertising is, from my
past experience at a couple big agencies, what you
do when you have some money left over and are willing
to donate it to the Interactive division (often a
separate profit center) in the spirit of "integration".

Just one more thing and I'll step down from my soapbox:
I actually would like some proof there's a backlash.
For every person you ask who hates online advertising,
you'll find another who is very satisfied with their
results. Where's the hard factual evidence that online
advertising "sucks"? Everything I've read says the dot
coms are spending less so overall spending is down,
but traditional brands are steadily, (albeit slowly)
picking up the slack.

Marlena

-------------------
Marlena Schwarz
S H A R P E P A R T N E R S
134 Fifth Avenue, 4th floor
NYC 10011
www.sharpe-partners.com



Received on Tue Mar 13 2001 - 14:16:18 CST