CPM isn't dead, it's just sick (was More suggestions...)

From: Jim Sterne <jsterne_at_targeting.com>
Date: Wed 24 Oct 2001 07:49:09 -0500

ROB FRANKEL <Rob_at_RobFrankel.com> WROTE:

>The whole reason why online advertising is suffering is
>because it tried to be what it isn't: a mass medium.
>It's not.

And how do we define mass medium? 450 Million people
not enough? Don't tell me there all those folks with
TV's watch the same shows either. (I've personally
never watched Seinfeld except in a slowing-down-passed-
the-accident sort of way).

If 15 million people look at the Yahoo home page,
is that enough to be declared a mass?

>Unlike TV or radio or print, the web has the ability
>to make a CPA/CPC work.

Well - it has the opportunity, but the ability?
The jury's still out.

>In fact, that's the only model that will ultimately
>redeem the web as a venue.

Hype Alert!

>That doesn't mean, however, that your site is responsible
>for making the sale.

Correct!

>Your site is responsible for driving users to the
>advertisers' sites.

No sir. My job is to sell an Opportunity To See.

>You delivered the bodies to the door; it's their job to
>drag them in. If THEY don't make the sale, that's their
>problem, not yours.

If they can't get them to the door it's not my fault either.

>Forget the CPM model. It doesn't work on the web.

It doesn't work if you expect the huge clickthrough rates
we got back in the good old days.

>More to the point, it's a model that offline media is much
>more accomplished at -- why would you want to set yourself
>up with that kind of comparison?

Video didn't kill the radio star.
Movies didn't kill theater.
The response rates on newspaper ads are pretty low.

>Until you accept that the web is about high-quality instead
>of high-volume, you will always come out on the losing end.

Why not both?

Let's start with a basic premise that we should
all be able to agree on (except Rob):

KEVIN FRAZIER <kfrazier_at_adace.com> ALSO WROTE:

>>There needs to be value placed on the delivery of your brand,
>>and the broadcast of your message.

Premise #2:
It is not the Web site owner's responsibility to drive
traffic to client's sites. The only people who care about
that are affiliates and associates. They have skin in the game.
The Web site owner is a publisher whose job it to attract
the kind of people advertisers want to get in front of.

Rob, if you are controlling your client's creative to
the point where you are making money, God bless you.
There's no reason to stop selling CPA. Go, man, go.
But don't disparage CPM just yet. The day is young and
the business models have not yet started getting dry
behind the ears.

Oh - and let's not forget those immortal words:

IVAN WELTMAN <ivan_at_tudogs.com> WROTE:

>Rob Frankel is wrong.

And Rob... if your next message does *not* start out,
"Jim, you ignorant slut," then I am apt to lose faith
in the power of discussion lists...


---------------------------------------------------------
Jim Sterne Target Marketing of Santa Barbara
jsterne@targeting.com http://www.targeting.com
Author, Speaker, Consultant +1 805-965-3184
Web Marketing, Customer Service & E-Metrics Consulting
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Received on Wed Oct 24 2001 - 07:49:09 CDT