AUG 2007 - From Where I'm Standing
By Keith Norris, Chief Executive, Marketing Association
As published in the 2007 Jul/Aug issue of DLB
“Electronica” rules
I’m penning this just before leaving on vacation to San Francisco, Alaska, Pebble Beach and Hawaii. Yes, I know….. it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a travelogue, but since the theme of this issue is ‘on-demand’ marketing, I thought it was a perfect illustration of how modern communication platforms have become part of our everyday lives. Virtually every part of our vacation was booked using electronic communications. Air travel, hotels, rental car bookings, Alaskan cruise – even down to the tee-off time at San Francisco Golf Club – were all researched and booked on the Internet and almost every booking was confirmed via an automatic email system. It seems only a couple of years ago that all these things had to be done through airlines and travel agents. Now you can source all the information you could ever wish for using Google or Yahoo! or Wikipedia, names our parents had never heard of which have become part of our everyday life.
As consumers, the Internet has empowered us to gradually take ownership of transactions. We are buying rather than being sold to. But the Internet, even as you read this, is only in its infancy. At a recent (excellent) event run by The Internet Bureau, I was given a glimpse of the impact of broadband – “the future of online advertising”. Stuart Jamieson, Executive Director of Nielsen Media Research released some fascinating results of a recent survey which show that in New Zealand we are still quite a way behind countries like the USA - but catching up really fast - in broadband uptake. He estimates that more than 50% of New Zealanders will have access to broadband at home within 18 months. But, when we’re talking broadband, we need to think in terms of having all the services that we currently use on our PC or laptop available in the palm of our hand. Yes folks, the mobile phone is set to also become our computer communications device and television receiver, all in one. Just look up IPTV on Wikipedia and let your mind juggle with the future possibilities for reaching your market via a hand-held screen….. or better yet, making sure they can reach you.
Interactive TV is still very much in its infancy here, but with TVNZ now re-engineering itself, and putting some muscle and resource behind talents like Jason Paris and Tom Cotter, we can expect the “infant” to grow and give Sky a run for its money.
You’ve heard this message time and time again over the last couple of years, but it’s worth repeating. As a marketer, you must prepare yourself and your organisation to move into the digital age. You must provide an easy electronic front door to your business or you’ll soon find that no-one will visit. You must find a way of educating yourself quickly in areas like blogging, podcasting and interactive marketing because it’s what your customers want and expect of you.
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