Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry?
I’ve met with several advertising executive honchos in recent weeks, from agencies large and small. The topic? No surprise. Social Media. These advertising execs are gung-ho about Social Media; it is generating cool, surprising and lucrative new opportunities for their agencies. But as the “campaign” becomes the “commonplace,” challenges rear up…
Here’s the gist of our conversations with the Ad Agency executives:
Advertising Exec: “Thanks for coming by. We know you guys ‘get’ Social Media. We get it, too; we love it in fact — but …”
PR Guy: “But it all starts to fall apart once you get past the campaign level?”
Advertising Exec: “Yea, yea, well, kind of… Don’t get me wrong, we can develop some community-appropriate and rockstar-level creative that helps start the conversations, even get a ton of fans or followers or whatever, but …”
PR Guy: “But then you have to feed that beast, right? You feel this voracious need to fill up the channel with new and excellent content, which is an expensive burden, both financially and creatively.”
Advertising Exec: “Yes, and then …”
PR Guy: “And then you also need to monitor these conversations and engage at a peer level in real-time, and also guide the client in how to react quickly, appropriately, and candidly themselves.”
Advertising Exec: “Yes!! And that’s not what we do.”
PR Guy: “Yep, I get it. You guys craft brilliant campaigns but the ‘relationships’ part feels low-level, mundane, hard-to-do, and fraught with risk as you engage with every Tom, Dick & Wierdo online.”
Advertising Exec: “See? I knew you ‘got it.’”
I have nothing but respect for the Advertising industry. Notice I use words like brilliant, rockstar, creative, etc., up above.
Whether “PR” or “Advertising” drive Social Media strategy has very little to do with which discipline better understands the New World Order. It has more to do with which group is better prepared to wade in — and never leave — the proverbial community pool.
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RT @limelitePR: is social media too boring for the ad industry? great post on PR’s strength in social media campaigns [link to post] -
Just read @tdefren Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry? [link to post] … what are you still doing here? -
RT @tdefren Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry? [link to post] -
Fredrik shares: Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry?: I’ve met with several adve.. [link to post] -
Is SM too big for the advertising industry? [link to post] (via @tdefren) I’d like to do SM within an ad agency, so I hope not. -
Astute/ enjoyable read.. RT @TDefren: Sit in on a conversation between PR Guy and Advertising Exec. [link to post] -
Have seen this 1sthand RT @TDefren: Sit in on a conversation between PR Guy and Advertising Exec. [link to post] -
Not bad. “Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry?” [link to post] -
Oh yeah. @tdefren “gets it.” Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry? [link to post] -
[reading] Is Social Media Too Boring for Advertising Industry? – [link to post] They craft brilliant camps but once they get it past…
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For me this post really captures the idea that it isn’t PR against advertising because we can all bring something to the table. The best campaigns and efforts are a collaboration that incorporates strong creative with long lasting relationship building.
“It has more to do with which group is better prepared to wade in — and never leave — the proverbial community pool.”
As Peter Marshall would have said, “Circle gets the square!”
It is my personal belief that social media resides on the PR side of the world. Advertisers join in, but they generally fail to see a return because they don’t take the time to build and nurture the relationships necessary to make social media work for them. As PR practitioners, it’s our job to create those relationships that are going to end in quantifiable results.
Tessa Carroll
VBP OutSourcing
http://www.blogs.vbpoutsourcing.com
Todd, great fodder here. I can think of lots of analogies here of where you’re coming from, such as “Everyone wants to score the touchdowns but no one wants to block.” Or something along those lines. The real work happens behind the scenes, and a lot of people don’t like to operate like that, or can’t. I don’t think it’s really a stigma associated with PR and or the Agency side, I think it’s more a realization that there is way more to this, than people “had heard”. That realization should cull the herd some.
… the other inconvenient truth is and remains: no one wants you there guys. you’ve overstayed your welcome before you even got there.
we are not an captive audience and we have no respect for your underhanded tactics.
seasons greetings from every tom, dick & harry 2.0.
don’t believe me? ask vodafail.
Now it is really becoming about relationships that you can just leave when a campaign is over. About time and like Mark Trueblood once they see long term opportunities not just the short term ones their minds will be opened because if they are not there are many people coming down the pipe that will be happy to take their lunch.
It is not too boring, just out of their mindset.