Why Did Chicken Little Cross the Road?

Media, , ,
10
Feb 2014

To recharge her laptop while she surfed the Net and watched the news.

SPM published a Red Paper called “Is the Sky Really Falling on Traditional Media?” Loosely based on Chicken Little, the fabled bird that gets zonked by an acorn and declares the sky is falling, this Red Paper addresses the nervous naysayers who predict the impending doom of traditional media. But truth be told, traditional media is alive and well…it just runs with a mixed crowd.

While the Internet garners a lot of attention in media planning circles, it is still only available in 70% of U.S. households, trailing all traditional media forms in coverage and accessibility. Conversely, television is still America’s sweetheart—watched in 99% of all U.S. households and, by far, the leader in building brand image and developing awareness of a product or service.

As technology changes, the way people gather information changes. For example, today’s ever-changing media environment has forced traditional media (notably television, radio, newspapers and magazines) to adapt to a digital world. This includes being available on multiple screens/devices and offering on-demand services. Understanding consumers’ changing media preferences is imperative in creating a successful strategy.

Because of this, SPM is continually monitoring America’s shifting media habits. From increased digital consumption for healthcare target audiences, to the multi-tasking and multi-screen phenomenon, to native advertising, we have developed an in-depth understanding of how people consume information that helps us guide clients in the development of their media strategies.

One trend—interactive advertising—has especially caught our attention. The idea is that people no longer passively consume information. They interact with it. Whether on social media or chat rooms, or crowd-sourced videos or images, studies show an interactive advertisement can increase the effectiveness of an ad by nearly double.

To leverage the power of both traditional and digital media, it is important to create multi-layered campaigns that work in harmony with one another. The rich media examples shown here more personally engage consumers, while the complementary television spots (and other traditional media) elevate brand awareness for a fully rounded consumer experience.

Paramount to the success of integrated campaigns like these is to “unsilo” our agencies. Today, most media companies work totally independent of creative agencies resulting in “unintegrated” messaging and media. SPM believes this is not the best way to spend scarce resources. Media and creative teams must work together for a campaign to achieve maximum impact.

So the moral of the story? By today’s standards, Chicken Little was a drama queen. As new technologies emerge, we can’t over-react and eliminate the tried and true for the shiny and new. Balance is key. To stick with our chicken analogy, we should never put all of our eggs…uh-hum…in one basket.

For a copy of the aforementioned Red Paper “Is the Sky Really Falling on Traditional Media?” download it here.

TV is the leader in building brand image & developing awareness of a product or service. https://ctt.ec/eDJa0+ @SPM_Marketing

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Emma Greifenkamp

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