Facebook may soon face legal charges in the EU for its Beacon platform. Meanwhile, Google is considering the purchase of Doubleclick and reviewing its adwords, especially in light of the search term fiasco last week. Where is advertising online going? Are consumers predators or prey?
The early 1900s experienced the illumination of the inner city with the widespread use of electricity. At the same time, billboards were reborn, strategically positioned around the electric lamps, enlightening consumers about hundreds of potential purchases. Walls along well lit “rues de la promenade” experienced heated competition as enterprising advertisers covered and recovered the posters of competitors. Automobiles and highways accelerated this competition for billboard space along heavily trafficked motorways.
Hanging billboards has always been strategic. Online, strategies for the digital billboard are still evolving. Ad agencies for online sites recommend renting space on search engines and sites like Google, eBay and Yahoo! through a complicated statistical assortment combining user visits with time spent by unique users with the number of page views.
Companies, brands, and advertisers create formulas by which to value and price billboard space and then evolve equally frustrating and controversial means by which to measure the effect of the posted billboard. Bob Ivins of ComScore noted in an interview with The Economist that there is not a lot of obvious concrete analysis available in this form of online advertising. Understanding the complex data that results, Ivins suggested, is like “putting a straw into the fire hose to take a sip”.
As a result, many Brands are flocking to social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo. Successful ads in these spaces are not mere billboards to the appreciative online community, but reminiscent of the marketing artwork of the early 1900s. These ads are works of art, comedy, or drama with which viewers want to engage. The memorable ad is the memorable brand or product; the memorable ad is an expressive bit of digital culture that elicits comments from viewers, prompts emails, and posts on YouTube.
In launching a memorable ad campaign, marketers make certain that the ad is available to a community that will choose to engage with the ad. As marketers in the early twentieth century recognised, location is critical. Social networks are preferable to one-hit wonder sites because the Buzz generated in particular networks allows marketers to categorise the brands and products that dominate a given social network. Buzz allows marketers to qualify and quantify the impact of a particular campaign within specific online communities.
Categorising the online discussion of a social networking site is not the same as collecting private information about specific consumer purchases, the notorious mistake made by the Facebook Beacon platform. Marketers need social media to categorise interest, not to hunt for potential consumers. Users may not want the Ads, however interactive and engaging, posted next to their profile like junk mail. Users want to post the ads themselves. They want to choose to engage in the ads.
Categorising the subjects discussed by users of different social platforms is important in engaging the most responsive audience. For example, Buzz analysis demonstrates that Bebo is known for musical Buzz, generated by its fantastic musical interface that allows bands looking for feedback and exposure to stage samples and even concerts online for little more than the cash used to buy the costumes. Facebook, on the other hand, attracts an audience that buzzes about books more than music.
Buzz simplifies the billboard by guaranteeing a responsive audience without invading individual consumer privacy. Categorising the audience allows marketing professionals to better analyse the qualitative and quantitative response to a particular ad. Ads can be targeted without being intrusive. Consumers are not caught in the beacon, but invited into the light.