Participatory Media Much More Than Ad Buys

At the risk of coming across anti-advertising (on second thought: so what?), I guess I'm feeling compelled to chime in with the recent discussions around the Mozilla Firefox campaign to raise money for a six-figure full-page ad in New York Times. I'm feeling pretty emotional about this right now, as I'm choked up thinking what one could do with a $100,000 marketing (not advertising) budget. I'll offer specific suggestions when I've calmed down.

Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell over at Church of the Customer have some insightful comments (recommended read) and I couldn't say it better myself:

As a tactic to generate awareness, a full-page ad fundraising strategy has a very short half-life, even with a novelty factor thrown in for good measure...

The Firefox faithful would do well to understand that their personal ownership of the Firefox "brand," if an open source product can be termed that way, is the marketing.

You have to wonder if a Super Bowl ad is next? Here's a challenge for any company to try out. Pretend you have no advertising budget - zilch - how would you engage with your potential and existing customers then? If you cannot answer that question, advertising won't save you. Advertising can be a component in a marketing campaign, but it's not the best tactic to build credibility for an unproven or new product or service at the onset (highly recommend, The Origin of Brands for an alternative approach).

The Mozilla folks are trying to reach beyond their established community to a community they haven't yet cracked: The Enterprise. Great intent. Wrong strategy.

"If a CEO or CIO has never heard of something, that's a tough sell," he [Stephen O'Grady] told LinuxInsider. "But if it's something they've seen in the Times, that gives it a measure of credibility." - Linux Insider

I don't think the Mozilla folks have a clue on how executives really make decisions. (As much as I'm trying to leave that field, I do know a lot about enterprise software marketing and sales.) Would I have another opinion if this was a sustained advertising campaign? Oh, you mean the seven impressions is the ticket theory espoused by ad agencies and media buyers:

Once you start advertising the most cost effective approach is to continue advertising. Awareness is driven by impressions. Studies have shown it takes five to seven impressions of your ad to achieve tangible awareness in a targeted individual. If you stop, you lose momentum (and by the way, that goes for all of your other marketing efforts as well). - from unnamed advertising agency site

Awareness doesn't necessarily translate to sales (I'm assuming your product or service is a considered buy and not a cheap impulse buy). I know of an unnamed high-profile company - I'll reveal the name when they go under - with enviable marketing campaigns also targetting IT executives, CIOs and CEOs. They have visibility and awareness but alas no credibility. The product is crap and anyone that does their homework (typically within their truth-telling network and by asking the right questions and certainly not by flipping through ads) knows it. If the company were to put half as much energy into product development and operations as they do to their sizzling outbound marketing, the sales register would ring.

This topic ties into the debate around blogging and advertising. I think too many folks are stuck in the advertising mentality of traditional media. Blogs are not simply content. They are networks of influential stakeholders with valuable feedback as well. We completely bypass the potential and promise of participatory media for continuous feedback including product conception and product development input within business if we in the blogosphere evangelize blogs as merely personal printing presses and just another ad buy. Blogs and networked media in general are a two-way street; advertising never will be.

...Success increasingly goes to those companies who focus on creating better things with their customers, not for them. - Business Week editorial, October 11, 2004, 75th Anniversity The Innovation Economy issue

Comments

[Rob Davis]

Hi;
The primary audience for the NYT ad is the funders. Having your name in the NYT along with thousands of other Firefox advocates worldwide is a fantastic brand experience. The experience has created a lasting base of advocates for future marketing & fundraising campaigns.
Speaking personally (not for Mozilla), Firefox does not yet have sufficient market share to approach CEOs. Firefox will continue to grow through grassroots advocacy.
Rob Davis

[Jennifer]

Rob - I definately agree.