Thursday 25 March 2010

Keep it on the wall

Posters; the golden age of marketing. It was a more simple time, a time when if your message couldn’t be delivered without applying terms and conditions it simply wasn’t worth saying. But times have changed and more sophisticated and reliable methods of going to market have been developed. We’re all far more concerned with our ROIs than we used to be and a new wall has come to the forefront of marketing.

Unlike its predecessor, this wall is not so obviously gutsy and it doesn’t have polished graphics or witty catchphrases. Often things are posted on this wall with little thought, no spelling or grammar checks, not even a cursory consideration of who might see it. Despite this, it’s got a lot going for it.

This new wall connects with people in the most authentic and trusted way; through peers. Peer endorsements are more valuable than primetime TV ads, product placement in the latest James Bond film, official sponsorship of the World Cup or the Olympic Games, even a similar endorsement from David Beckham. And, peer endorsements inherently come from trusted and impartial sources that understand our consumer needs, subtleties, and personality; no need to waste time with generic demographic segmentations.

The new wall is of course all of those virtual spaces friends use to share their lives. These spaces are simultaneously personal and public and if our products add value, specifically to their online experience, they can be opened to us too. But be warned, the new wall is far more relational than its predecessor, we have to learn to give value before we reap the rewards.

The opportunity to connect with individuals and their friends is greater now than it has ever been; we’d be foolish to let it go by.

By Dan Chalke