Ciceron Blog Archives

Picking Daisies Along the San Andreas Fault

What's interesting about earthquakes is that they rumble not along the entire distance of a particular faultine but in relatively discreet areas. While LA is rumbling, cultured San Franciscans might be sipping their lattes after a tasty fois gras with what-me-worry non-chalance. Yet the effects of an earthquake can be felt for hundreds of miles without residents making the conscious connection to a seismic event.

Trying to make a living in today's media landscape is like living on a hotspot along the San Andreas fault. In one area the very essense of media is experiencing a transformative existance, as though entire new mountain ranges are lifting themselves out of the earth, cutting off life support like the Colorado River, and forcing some species to die off and the more resiliant to flourish. We are currently in one of those media earthquakes with the rise of Consumer Control of their media experiences. From TiVO and other DVRs to the Internet, the consumer has rocked a hotspot along the faultline. Others living farther up or down the faultline were picking daisies wondering what all the fuss is about. "Nothing's rocking here," they said. "Sure we get a few tremors now and then but nothing serious." Today, companies and their agencies who continue to pour millions into major network advertising are sitting on the next faultline hotspot -- the effects of the earthquake elsewhere are already being felt, but they don't seem to know it...

Until a few weeks ago when the Association of National Advertisers met at the Biltmore in Scottsdale. There, advertising heavyweights such as Proctor & Gable, Coca-Cola, and Nike all said the obvious -- we live on a fault line and it's time to wake up. All the seismic indicators are there. The viewers they pay big money for aren't there anymore and when they are they're in control. I imagine there were a few major agencies in the room giving subtle hand signals to the wait staff for another glass of Chardonney or three.

Using a faultline analogy is obviously a convenient opportunity for me at this moment and its relevance is limiting because along this faultline isn't just devastation but new life. The beautiful mountain ranges of Southern California are some of the most stunning scenary in the world. They were all produced by violent earthly outbursts. So too the consumer grabbing control over media is opening new, more meaningful dialogues in marketing and advertising.

Those who want to engage with their consumers have no better opportunity to do so than right now -- and it's only going to open up more fully. Advertising, remember, really isn't a conversation, it's a blowhorn. A web site, on the other hand, is a conversation. An email communications plan that listens to what people want in terms of content and then responds by segmenting consumers into richer groupings and offering content with deeper insights is a conversation. Search engine campaigns that tie information-rich web pages to search terms is a conversation. And communications plans that integrate all of the above envelop the consumer in the most highly relevant and meaningful brand experience.

Harnessing the power of this earth moving change takes courage, excellent engineering, sound science, and abundant creativity. We all live along this faultline -- it's up to you whether you hope and pray for a quiet earth beneath you or plan for the inevitable. Then again, you could get out and move to Florida.

Hurricane analogies next month.