Advertising- a form of communication whose purpose is to
inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and
use them
In an era where consumers have the ability to tune out sponsored messages with
ease, many brands are left scrambling to find new ways to ensure their voices
are heard. Still, many advertisers, marketers and brand managers overlook a
fundamental change that is occurring in the advertising landscape.
No longer can we count on the traditional tactic of content to garner the
attention of consumers. For many consumers, content is a commodity that is
expected to be obtained at no cost (at least, non premium content).
So what is an advertiser/brand to do in a landscape where consumers no longer
value the content for attention bond that once fueled the ad economy?
Provide value added services (of course)!
I realize that this concept is not new. Advertisers have been doing this
for a while, but in the interactive space the opportunity is potentially much
greater.
One example from last year that I like to use (simply because it is funny) is Cosmopolitan
Magazines Fake Calls which provides the service of helping women get out of
bad dates. While this was a clever idea, it is certainly a one trick pony.
So what is the longer term solution?
While there are many long term "service as advertising" plays, one
thing that is extremely compelling to me these days (probably because I am a
search geek) is Google's recent move to enable their Google Docs
service to operate offline.
In a blog post this past Monday entitled, Bringing The Cloud With You (a reference to the
increasingly popular notion of cloud
computing) the big G announced that they would be making it possible to
access the Google Docs service (via Google
Gears) from your desktop.
Why would Google make such a move you ask?
The answer is simple, to take on Microsoft’s share of the
desktop while maintaining their own share of search (I would put an emphasis on
the latter). What is not as simple is the question, how does Google plan to
monetize this service? One may guess that Google will be placing relevant ads
next to text in Google Docs, but maybe there are other ways? Maybe there are
ways for advertisers to sponsor this service for a segment of users. What do
you think the consumer response would be to such a play? How long would it take
before consumers came to expect their services for free in the same way they
now look at content?
Can the service economy really be monetized and how long can
it last?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Technorati Tags: google, service economy, google docs, advertising, cloud computing, google gears