Did the Pop Up Discussion Suck the Wind Out of us?

From: Steve Hall <steve_hall_at_charter.net>
Date: Mon 23 Sep 2002 10:29:30 -0500

Boy, we sure had some activity on this list when we were all bitching about
pop ups. Pretty quiet now. What happened to us? Is that all we have to talk
about here? Surely, there must be topics of much greater interest then just
that one measly little ad unit on the Web?

I will put forth a topic. It's not new. But it was recently brought to my
attention again by Robert Loch who keeps a weblog
(netmarketing.blogspot.com). Yes, he was the one who verbally assaulted Jim
Meskauskas of Mediapost on the subject of pop ups but he did have a point.
The topic is this: The Internet, not as a standalone medium whereby like TV
and other media which are siloed off into their respective corners, but as a
medium by which the ENTIRE marketing process can be tied together.

I view the day when the Internet is just a "pipe" if you will. A pipe that
enables the effective flow of marketing from one point to an other. Robert
suggest a TV campaign that drive traffic to a web site that then collect
info, builds a customer database, uses that info to re-marketing via some
form of CRM campaign. It's not that this is not already happening. It is.
But I think it can go further.

I view the day when TV and all media for that matter are part of, or
connected to the Internet. It's the "internet appliance" model we have all
heard about. We already have a mini- version of that with the cable service
called Wink. There should be no reason why this cannot expand into a full
blown service that, for example would work as follows:

You sit down to view your favorite program and see a well placed product
placement within a show (because in the future their will be no actual ads
on TV) and that placement sparks an interest in you to know more. Rather
then interrupting your show with an additional screen of info (a pop up
screen, god forbid), you just click a button and off zooms a reminder to be
viewed later at your convenience whether on the TV or on any other
"connected" device you have. Perhaps a monitor on your fridge that functions
as a calendar. Or, from your radio in your car when you are commuting and
have time to hear more about that product you had an interest in. It's about
creating an interest in something and then providing a means for the
consumer to consider/buy the product in their own timeframe and on their own
terms. In other words, the marketing follows you.

There's actually a company that is doing something like this. It is called
CoTV. According to them, they can:

"...change the nature of TV advertising by tightly linking Web services to
TV ads, enabling direct response and aiding in considered purchases and
relationship marketing. Also, linked Web enhancements can include product
details, infomercials, virtual test-drives, product configurators, service
rep call placement, and complex ordering services, all built on standard Web
technology."

I like this. Easy, simple merging of two very effective media.

What other thoughts do people have on this?

Steve Hall
http://adrants.rantworks.com




Received on Mon Sep 23 2002 - 10:29:30 CDT