By Kenneth Lim on August 25, 2009
Particularly in new media, marketing tactics aren’t always as proven and as successful. There is often a big difference in the tonality, the form and the audience of the content. Readers of a car blog aren’t necessarily the same type of people that read a car magazine, for example.
It’s always important to consider the value, the relevance and the timing of your message when marketing on the web. The danger in online marketing—especially with the advent of social media—is the backlash that can arise when a certain marketing effort is not to the audience’s liking.
Some companies will enter a confrontation with the audience, while other companies will ignore the audience. But either way, there’s a moment of contact that you can seize. The amount of backlash you receive is the result of the influence of the starter. Wouldn’t you like to be able to make use of that influence to your advantage? There are more benefits to be gained in repairing any bridges that may be broken than to burn them down completely.
Understand the value of your messages to your audience. When things do go wrong, embrace the naysayers.
Posted in Operations | Tagged branding, community engagement, evaluation, marketing, social business, social media
By Kenneth Lim on August 13, 2009
Earlier this month, word came out of the Associated Press (AP) planning to introduce a “copy fee” for its content. What it meant was that people using five or more words of the AP’s content would have to pay for it. Copying content from the AP is what the AP considers to be “unauthorized use”. Does this behavior ring any bells?
To me, it looks an awful lot like the crackdown procedures of the MPAA and the RIAA on the movie and music piracy scene. It does signal the perilous situation in which these organizations and their business models are. They are looking to make money from a changed world in a way that only worked in the old world. They’re trying to change the world instead of changing their business model.
Copying of content, piracy of audio and video, and music services on the web are not bad. It’s even a form of flattery. Apparently, it’s worth using and consuming. Attacking these practices and services is essentially also attacking the one they should be aiming for, consumption. They’re running their business into the ground while under the impression that they’re saving it.
Protecting the future by killing the now doesn’t work.
Posted in Reflections, Strategy | Tagged analysis, ap, associated press, ethics, innovation, marketing, media, mpaa, music, riaa, Strategy, tactics
Kenneth Lim
Amsterdam, NL
