I received the news item over a week ago from our friend Jacob Ramos, about the survey of 500 American executives and their opinions of digital media, run by Peppercom and PR News. You can find the results at this story "Digital Doubts and Disconnects".
A few highlights - 36% of executives involved in digital media feel it is too soon to tell, if their digital marketing campaigns are successful (ouch).
60% feel they are behind, or at best on par, with their rivals when it comes to using digital channels.
Most feel the web will play a bigger role and also many see it as a useful vehicle for building reputation. Only a quarter of the companies surveyed felt comfortable being able to handle a web crisis (can anyone spell Kryptonite, Dell Hell or Sprint 1000?).
Now - my take on it. Yes, interesting finding and yes, its frightening when you are accustomed to working in an interrputive advertising world (TV ads) and now have to un-learn everything and re-learn all new ways of working, and to get your head around "Engagement Marketing" and even more radical - "User-Cocreated Advertising" but - here is the American rant coming - why was mobile not mentioned in the whole story?
The cellphone? Three times as many people actively use SMS text messaging worldwide than use email. There are nearly four times as many mobile phones - at 3.5 Billion cellphone subscriptions - than there are personal computers. The cellphone is permanently carried (the laptop is not); the cellphone is personal; it is always on; it has a built-in payment system (imagine if all web users also had Paypal accounts); it is available at the point of inspiration, and delivers nearly 10x more accurate audience data than the web.
The rest of the world knows that the mobile (cellphones) is the newest mass media. Admob delivers 2 billion ads to cellphones every month. Flirtomatic has shown how Google Adwords can be adapted to mobile advertising on a dating/flirting service. Blyk is now inventing user-cocreated advertising.
The Americans who think about the digital divide, need to know that the world's most prevalent digital platform is not the internet, it is cellphones. Even in the USA from last year, more people owned cellphones than had internet access. In many countries the majority of internet access is from cellphones, including some of the world most technically advanced nations, such as Japan and South Korea, to some of the most backward, such as India and Africa. If you want a digital media plan - you need to understand mobile. (and you will want to read Alan's excellent White Paper to help you along the way, entilted 7th Mass Media)
Hi Alan
Interesting study for sure. Wanted to point out since you mention Dell Hell that we have worked hard in digital media to overcome the situation you pointed to...just fair to note that we move forward and are writing a new chapter in that story by listening and engaging online.
You might be interested in some of Michael Dell's views on these matters which are in an interview here: http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2008/02/michael-dell-ph.html
appreciate your perspective and take on this "new world"...and on the very real importance of cell phones and a global perspective
Posted by: RichardatDELL | March 20, 2008 at 04:04 AM