Friday, December 08, 2017

Welcome Back!

After a gap of some 10 months, the Technical Marketing Blog is back.
Bulletin Boards provided the main online platform for the exchange of thoughts, ideas and complaints. That blogs were gaining traction was becoming recognised as the 1990s gave way to the 2000s. So starting in 2006, we were not early adopters by any means although blogging was uncommon in the b-2-b world. Our reason for launching the Technical Marketing Blog was to demonstrate to our clients the possibility this new medium offered marketeers. It also allowed us to learn how to use this new tool and keep a step or so ahead of the client. But above all, blogging for us was an experiment. It sat in the world of social media. A world which included Facebook. For businesses, blogs and other emerging social media tools offered important new ways to communicate with their target audiences, but business clients were concerned, not just about the 'social' media tag and the trivial nature of the content, but the whole business of 'Likes,' gossip and chat. But it wasn't Adrian Mole's Diary [aged 13 3/4] we were looking at either, but at a new PR tool.

In the marketing communications business, advertising was the above line but had to work hard to arrest attention, be understood and prompt a call to action. PR was where much more could be explained about the product, the rationale, benefits etc and impart far more information than could be tucked into a space explain in much more detail. But PR was not issued lightly in the B-2-B sector, but only after much agonising over wording, worrying about too much disclosure of company secrets and who were their  customers. So authority to issue a press release was vested high up the company. Blogs demanded far more timely direct action and couldn't wait for the CEO to return from his winter visit to the office in the Caribean. For marketing agencies, like TML, blogs promised other advantages, not least self publishing and could in one swoop eliminate the editorial scissors and avoid the trash can where so many  stories, PR effort and value generally ended up. No longer were we writing to appeal to the editor to encourage that editor to endorse the  story,  but now we could appeal directly to the customers and prospects. Best of all, within reason we could publish what we liked.

As an aside to the emergence of social media, marketing, advertising and PR agencies were finding that the old categories of 'above the line' and 'below the line' were no longer helpful. Agencies were reinventing themselves as 'New Media' agencies, then evolving into 'Digital Agencies'. The word 'digital' for many had no understanding - it was a convenient 'catch all'. In the world of electronics, digital was often seen as a better option than analogue. In agencies,  digital sounded good.

 the emergence of social media, marketing, advertising and PR agencies were finding that the old categories of 'above the line' and 'below the line' were no longer helpful. Agencies were reinventing themselves as 'New media' agencies, then evolving into 'digital agencies'. The word 'digital' for many conveyed no understanding - it was a convenient 'catch all' that sounded kind of techie. In the world of electronics, digital was often seen as a better option than analogue. In agencies  digital sounded good. Those I  came across didn't have teams of people writing code. In fact most were the very same people who presented hand drawn visuals for client approval years before. The whole media experience has slowly moved to provide challenges not only to agencies, but to graphics artists, printers and the way in which users now consume the material and content. The arrival of the 'Mac' especially the 'Apple II' enabled artists to put away their crayons, the whole business of film-work, typesetting, author's corrections eliminated many stages in the process - stages where agencies made a lot of money. A nice little earner swept away by the advance of technology.


And who could have guessed that the 140 character 'Tweet' - which worked well for PR  headlines including short html links back to the full story - would become the entire story and the favoured communication channel of the President of the USA?

During my career in marketing I  have witnessed the impact of new technologies on how agencies work. The gradual decline of the supremacy of print which is recognisably descended from the big leap forward with the advent of the printing machine centuries ago, to the computing power now available for not just visuals but database techniques and the Internet providing global connectivity.

Future blogs will continue in this theme.


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