NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> $1,027 - the price of journalistic ethics?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> $1,027 - the price of journalistic ethics?
Mark Montgomery (markm_at_virtualfranchise.com)
Wed, 7 Jan 1998 08:45:09 -0700 (MST)
Steve Kruse wrote:
>For example, I'm not convinced that the issue of Microsoft and the Justice
>Department going at it has any real importance in my life. I'm not sure it
>effects too many other people as well, other than Netscape or Microsoft
>shareholders. In fact, I don't think it is as important as the family of
>four killed by a drunk driver.
>
>I know, I'm an idiot for thinking this way.
If that's the case, we need more idiots Steve.
We added a daily news service for our premium subscription
service that provides summaries and links to articles
along with analyst interpretation. This follows a career
of marketing consulting in small to mid size businesses
with a few giants thrown in just for fun. Smaller companies
are far more challenging in almost every aspect of the
promotion side, but none more difficult than in getting
media play, even when they have a story that is of critical
importance to the medium's audience.
Despite Cliff's experience, there is a direct connection
between advertising dollars and coverage, even though most
good journalists fight like hell to admit it. That's a good
thing IMO, although denial rarely is. The problem is much
like in politics in the US where access, relationships, and
power tend to be self perpetuating. A good example would be
the amount of coverage presently given to say Slate magazine.
I like Slate and several other MSFT individual Web products,
but I can testify that we have many other Web sites that have
somehow attracted a larger audience that receive far less
(if any) coverage. Now think about that, let it sink in.
It's an indisputable fact of business.
Here is a clip from our daily service that addresses the
larger problem in our niche segmented world and the
dangers of incestual groups in any industry. The problems
for businesses appear as lack of a broad perspective and
the unavoidable lack of creativity that follows as well
as losing touch with customers, an especially important
problem with technology:
"An excellent article about a topic we discuss
often, the social problems associated with
niche segmentation given the tools available
in the coming century.
The article is by Joseph Turow, professor at the
Annenberg School for Communication at the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and is
based on his book: Breaking Up America:
Advertising and the New Media World
http://www.marketingtools.com/publications/ad/97_ad/9711_ad/ad971130.htm
(American Demographics)
Publishers Weekly said: "Turow painstakingly
details how target marketing exploits growing
social divisions to maximize profits, and how,
in doing so, it exacerbates these divisions. . .
A well-researched . . . look at the important
phenomenon of target marketing and its impact
on society." "
Keep in mind that I have been a target or
"scientific" marketer my whole career because
it works, but we need to be aware of the problems
we create in the process.
BTW- I think the most important ethical issue
presently in journalism on and off the net is the
scale issues required to financially support
media not owned by the top twenty media giants
globally (several of which are members of GWIN).
For more on that, check out part of our book at:
http://gwin.net/comlink.htm
Mark Montgomery
Founder
GWIN
http://gwin.net
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