March 31, 2011
Risk
Kate O'Neil
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Risk. Risky business. The game of risk. Every person takes risks every day. Each morning that you get in the car to go to work, you risk your life to get there. People don’t think about or use the term risk very often because experience has taught us to trust the probable outcome.
It seems that the term risk gets tossed around most when the outcome is going to affect someone’s wallet. Today, many marketers find this medium to be the riskiest of all marketing. Will online marketing eventually kill the magazine? Two years ago, I would have emphatically said, “Yes.”
I hate age as a defining characteristic of anyone, but I was born in the digital age. It’s not that I was never a magazine reader, I always have been. It’s just that from my earliest memories, if something could be done on the computer it was better than doing it any other way. You need to write an assignment? It’s faster to type it. You want to play a game? It’s more fun to play it on the computer. You need to research something? You’ll find more information online. You want to talk to your friends? Well, I won’t even attempt to list the online options to answer that one. It makes sense that I would think the best way to market anything is to do it online.
The thing about magazines is that they’re an experience. They appeal to your senses in a way that the Internet will never match: the feel of the paper between your fingers as you flip to your favorite column, the smell of the ink or the look of the curled corners and dog eared pages. It can’t be replicated. I’m not going to preach the benefits of advertising in magazines, but I will say this: It’s a risk. However, there is no better way to allow someone to experience your brand in a tangible way.
I’m not much of a risk taker, but here are some things that are worth taking a risk on this year:
Mobile: Everyone’s got to try it. I don’t think the masses will see the ROI they’d like to this year, but that will change. Campbell Soup Co. stomached the hefty price tag to run an iAd campaign. According to MobileMarketer.com, Apple commissioned Nielson Co. to analyze the results. Brand recall for the iAd was 79 percent compared to an average?20 percent for TV and 17 percent online. You don’t have to spend millions, but starting to allocate marketing funds in that direction is a good move no matter your business type.
Social Media: I know many of you are probably thinking you’ve got this one covered. But, continue to invest in a strategic plan and continue to improve on your responsiveness to both the good and particularly the bad interactions with your brand. Social media is the closest engaging experience that the Internet has to offer. Also, go to www.vitaminwater.com. As the Web becomes more and more social, consider the same changes as Vitamin Water.
Magazine: I know there are some of you out there who think the tablet market is going to hurt magazine sales and advertising. You have a point. But, I think it’s the best thing to ever happen to the magazine medium. Readership will rise and so will loyalty. Tablet readers will continue to consume information from their trusted media outlets and will enjoy doing so in different ways.
So really what is the greatest risk? The greatest risk is to risk nothing. In the two years I’ve been in this industry I’ve seen a lot of companies succeed and grow. The common thread between them all is people unafraid of taking risks.
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