Trends And Truisms Day One: The Big Idea Can Be The Sum of Small Ideas
Posted on January 2, 2008
How many of my fellow marketers out there were asked to create “the big idea” this year?
After getting this request, how many of you came up with strategies that employed various social channels, content syndication strategies and search strategies only to hear;
“I love it, but where is the big idea?”
Perhaps some of you replied with;
Perhaps the “big idea” does not mean what it used to mean?
One of the big problems of the year is that many marketers have still not learned of accepted some of the following principles:
- The micro-site is essentially dead (it is not totally dead. It still has a role however this role is nowhere near as important as it once was)
- These days your distributed web strategy is far more important than your mircosite strategy (potentially any other web strategy you can devise)
- Be everywhere that a consumer may want to find you or risk obsolescence in the eyes of that consumer
- These days your distributed web strategy is far more important than your mircosite strategy (potentially any other web strategy you can devise)
- Viral Does Not Mean Cheap
- Viral Content=Good Content
- Conversations are big ideas, but DON’T FORGET LISTENING IS PART OF CONVERSING!
- People don’t like advertising but they do like value
- I often hear people say, “if advertising is targeted enough, people will like”. I don’t buy that! I do however feel that if the advertising is targeted enough people will accept it. These targeted ads can also potentially add value
Tags: distributed web, microsite, viral, the big idea, strategy, marketing, conversation
Related articles by Zemanta
- Motrin: A Case Study In Social Media Marketing – Part 2 (marketing.blogtanker.com)
- Charlene Li outlines for the Future of Social Networks (hardknoxlife.com)
- Brickfish turning users into brand marketers (vator.tv)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=08290870-284d-4cf4-98e6-502543c7ff4d)
Tags: advertising, Business, Consumer, Internet marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Strategy, Web syndication
Jan 02, 2008
I don’t totally agree microsites are dead. They can be effective when done correctly. For instance, I have a client with over 15 products, trying to funnel a visitor to the right product can be tricky. We have the content all on one site for accessing, but it can be confusing.
Using microsites we can focus solely on one branded product at a time then funnel visitors to that one web site where they can view videos, photographs, benefits, download spec sheets, convert.
The microsite isn’t the big idea, but it is one of the smaller ideas that help funnel a potential consumer to exactly what he/she was looking for in search, at a trade show, etc. It also keeps them focused on one thing at a time instead of bombarding them with a barrage of products all at once and hoping they remember what they wanted at the other touch points.
Sites like ThePantsWhisperer.com and the Pringles game were great uses of micros sites that definitely suckered me in. They are successful, however; because they are a sum of smaller ideas.
Joseph Szala
Principal of Vigor – an interactive branding strategy firm
Jan 02, 2008
Joe
Thanks for the comment!
I agree that the microsite is not totally dead and do agree it has it’s place. Notice I wrote;
“The micro-site is essentially dead (it is not totally dead. It still has a role however this role is nowhere near as important as it once was)”
After thinking about your comment, I would like to go back and edit to read;
“The micro-site is dead as the central force that drives and interactive marketing campaign.”
In days past, the microsite was the “catch all” for an interactive marketing campaign, whereas today, as you say, the microsite is an essential part of the funnel.
Does this jive better for you?
Thanks for being the first to help shape this project!
Adam
Jan 02, 2008
Well said, I think there are a lot of clients who “get it”, but CREATE A VIRAL CAMPAIGN is one that is frustrating to hear and needs to be bannished from the lexicon!
Jan 02, 2008
Thanks for that Jamie!
I agree, the worl viral should be outlawed before content has been created.
The term should only be used after content has been created and is ready to be seeded.
Adam
Jan 02, 2008
I would love to see marketers begin asking “Whats the conversation about?” as opposed to what the big idea was. So often marketers are still wrapping their “ideas” into 30 second spots but no looking at it from campaign platform or the outcomes of a conversation. it is my experience the at the people who state “I love it, but where is the big idea?”, need to go back to their platform strategies and ask themselves is they really address their core audience. To be viral is to be talked about. we should be creatively crafting the conversation (because that is the big idea) and then using our technical prowess to facility a fast moving game of hot potato.
Jan 02, 2008
[...] But before we shoot headfirst into ’08 lets take the obligatory look back at 2007 not just here at Morpheus Media, but in the interactive marketing space as a whole. My Main Man and all around Morpheus’ stalwart Adam Broitman does a great job detailing the biggest ups and downs of the last year over at his place A Media Circ.us. Who were the biggest winners and what should the community take away from this past year’s action? Is Web 3.0 all but upon us? Should I never use the term 3.0 ever again? Where did Josh get that hat? And of course who is King? Adam does a great job letting us all know in his best post of the year “Trends and Truisms.” [...]
Jan 02, 2008
I could not agree more Joanna! Thanks for the great comments.
I totally agree that people still think of a big idea in a very “boxed” fashion (often in a 30 second format, as you mention). We certainly need to continue to break out of this mold and this is the year to do it!
Jan 02, 2008
I’ve definitely heard marketers ask for “the big idea,” and I agree that sometimes the best strategies for certain campaigns involve small ball, not the home run.
Yet the small ball still needs to produce runs; it’s not just about getting the men on base (and, please, whack me with a bat if the sports analogy’s too much). It has to be connected to some sort of bigger picture or overarching strategy, or the small ideas will flounder in a vacuum. They need to be grounded in something so it’s clear why, for example, a tax software marketer is setting up a page on Twitter or why a TV network will monitor blog buzz from the up-fronts in May (both of these are based on campaigns I’ve been involved with at 360i).
Sometimes that also means the big idea’s already there, so it’s time to disseminate it or carry it out. But big ideas still hold tremendous value.
Jan 02, 2008
David
I fully agree that the smaller, execution oriented tactics need to be wrapped in a larger concept. At the end of the day, I think everything has to come back to the core marketing solution. This is why I made sure to use say that the big idea CAN be a SUM of the smaller ideas.
I totally appreciate your insight, and think you are dead on in refining this first idea.
I guess my gripe is when people ask for the big idea and are not concerned with how it will be executed, and do not pay attention to the fact that one singular big idea will not resonate with the type of fragmented audiences that are indicative of the modern media space.
I think certain marketers are still too concerned with the glitz and glamor of the idea itself and are not paying attention to the small pictures that make up the album that is the big picture.
Jan 03, 2008
I completely forget that I had written a post a while back with similar ideas Here it is, I hope it adds to the conversation!
http://amediacirc.us/2007/08/02/really-small-big-ideas/
Feb 20, 2008
[...] have heard me rant about my hatred of the term "viral" (yes, I hate it in both a marketing context as well as a health context). While I think the power [...]
Mar 21, 2008
[...] myself and the other panelists, I have and will continue to explore the marketing implications of the distributed web. I feel this concept is paramount to any modern marketing strategy and we all must be aware of what [...]
Jan 28, 2009
[...] No Distributed Web Strategy [...]