NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> One-to-one
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> One-to-one
Bob Schmidt (schmidt_at_magicnet.net)
Wed, 06 Aug 1997 22:53:27 -0400
Tim Smith writes,
> I am a big proponent
>of targeted campaigns, and have had some success in
>reaching particular demographics, but is that really
>one-to-one? And are the tools there yet?
I wouldn't spend even one second worrying about it.
The concept of one-to-one marketing actually dates back to the 1970's and
Foote Cone Belding in Chicago. It was hatched as a description of the kind
of brand advertising FCB liked to produce. It actually has nothing
whatsoever to do with the Internet. However, it has been remade into a
buzzy sort of idea and elevated to ethereal heights by so-called Internet
marketing experts -- "marketeers" . Keep your nonsense detector on at all
times and set it to full blast when around these types.
Those who seek one to one should hire a salesman. Marketers and advertisers
excel at one to many, a model perfectly suited to the Internet despite the
protestations of the so-called experts. Any Internet marketing expert who
doesn't understand and embrace the mass marketing characteristics of the
Internet is no expert at all.
The main problem with one to one is not that the tools don't exist yet,
though it is true they don't. Rather it is that no one has yet come forth
to explain let alone prove exactly who wants one to one marketing. Does the
consumer want it? Does the consumer need it? Does the advertiser want it?
Does the advertiser need it? It is doubtful in both cases. Never mind that
the economics of one to one sales and marketing do not pan out, Internet or
no Internet. No one can afford to rely on selling one customer at a time.
It's just too expensive. The Internet is not a magic charm that will make
this go away.
Targeting is actually a mass marketing technique. This, and the fact that
target markets are not synonymous with niche markets, is often forgotten.
The fact is, the consumer who logs on is the same consumer who goes to the
grocery store for a beer run and comes home with Chef Boy'ardee, Pampers
and Cheetos, the same consumer who watches Seinfeld and who reads the
classifieds and the comics. We have seen the Internet user and she is us.
Thank God.
As to Mark Welch's claim in another post that he went off the deep end on
the Barnes and Noble thing, I can only agree.<g>
Bob Schmidt
www.provider.com
Author of The Geek's Guide to Internet Business Success
The Definitive Business Blueprint for Internet Designers, Developers,
Programmers, Marketers and Service Providers
http://www.vnr.com/vnr/geeksguide/
ISBN 0-442-02557-2
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