Media Malfeasance: Observations from the Front Lines: Wondering All The Way to My Grave - Matthew Greene - MediaBizBloggers - Matthew Greene - Media Malfeasance

Published: October 29, 2009 at 03:42 AM GMT
Last Updated: October 30, 2009 at 03:42 AM GMT

So, those of you who know me personally and professionally are well aware of the axe that I grind, everyday, in every way. In fact, I'm busy now editing the inscription that will by my epitaph:

'Here lies Matthew Greene. He died wondering whether the marketers and their agencies that never spent more than 30% of available ad dollars through digital channels, didn't know they were doomed.'

Sound a little drastic you say? Well here are some facts that we share with clients in the C-Suite to jump-start this very conversation. I will walk you through these very important datasets to show why I'm so passionate about digital media and marketing and why I plead with major brands to get their collective acts together before it's too late. It's time to share-shift A LOT MORE OF YOUR AD DOLLARS ONLINE, NOW!

Everybody knows that the web and other digital forms…from the portals (AOL, MSN, Yahoo!) to social media, to mobile, to search…are integral to our daily lives, often minute-to-minute.

This truth leads to my very 1^stset of data points. I call it the lunacy factors. Keep these figures in mind as I divulge, piece by piece, the ammo that informs and activates my marketing malfeasance rationale:

The charts reveal the fact that of the $142 billion spent in above-the-line advertising in the 18 media channels that TNS Media track, less than 7% of all ad dollars went to display advertising. That's the 1^st lunatic factor. The second? Retailers, those poor souls who have experienced the greatest hurt since the fiscal sky collapsed 9/15/08, are the biggest investors in traditional media, especially newspapers, making them the biggest losers across the board.

My aim is to help retailers and manufacturers alike stop (or at least curtail) this lunatic investment strategy. Really, time's a wastin'.

The fact that less than 7% of ad dollars goes to the web flies in the face of this…

That's right. 40% of media consumption occurs on the web, with 40% going to TV viewership, 13+% to Radio listenership and only 3.5% to Newspaper and Magazine readership, respectively. Like it or not…them's the facts and the sooner—faster—better you adapt to this new media paradigm, the better off you and your company will be.

89% of consumers go to the web first when contemplating and researching a product, or service, or just to get the latest news, or email, or social media message. As a marketer, doesn't it make sense to put your product in front of your consumers when they are in-market, eager for your message, inside the medium they've decided to go to first?

And with a plethora of technology and media solutions available to us all, allowing us precision reach with your best prospects whenever they are in market, well, let's just agree that this level of focused targeting is Part 1 of the marketer's search for the holy grail.

93% of all transactions and sales in the U.S. still occur within a 4-walled retail environment. That's a <$4 Trillion marketplace at retail, versus a $156 Billion e-com marketplace. Shall I repeat? Nah, you get the idea.

So when a very well known upscale apparel manufacturer/brand tells me that they moved $405 MM through their e-com channel in 2008. I say, "Great. Keep it up!"

"BTW," I continue. "How much revenue did your company generate at retail?" "$8.5BB you say? That means that less than 5% of your company's revenue is generated by your e-com site. Yet, while 40% of media consumption is done Online, the 2% of your ad dollars you do invest on the web are for branding and e-com rather than supporting your retail stores. Are you seeing any disconnect in this strategy?"

They sheepishly respond that while they believe in cross-channel marketing, all their online advertising, for display and search is devoted to driving e-commerce traffic and transactions. I say, "Welcome to marketing malfeasance."

At Blue Ribbon Digital and its wholly owned company, Click2Mortar™, we believe that the next big frontier and area of growth in digital advertising and marketing is exactly where we've focused our efforts, while consistently innovating with all our media and technology partners. Namely, driving web viewers to retail locations, accountably. This is Part 2 of the marketer's search for the Holy Grail.

Retailers need to learn how to utilize the web to drive consumers to transact in-store. If they don't, not only will they be guilty of marketing malfeasance, they'll be out of business.

Matthew Greene has over twenty-five years of strategic advertising and marketing experience working with blue-chip companies. Matt can be reached at matthew.greene@blueribbondigital.com

To communicate with or to be contacted by the executives and/or companies mentioned in this column, link to JackMyers Connection Hotline.

Sometimes i wonder if it is malfeasance... or just Cronyism. A lot of old school agencies and corporate marketing directors have established relations with their buddies in print and TV. It's too much time n' trouble for them to try new ideas and meet new faces...so they stick with the same old' game plan. Or...they use an Old school marketing agency that claims to have a new digital department (ie the owner's 16-year-old geek nephew)!

Posted at 10:29 AM on Oct 29, 2009 by awatsonbarber

The graphs are so small and blurry that they are not visible. You might still have good arguments, but we can't see your data.
And the orange font on the green balloon is illegible, too, although I think maybe the first word is "media."

Posted at 11:28 AM on Oct 29, 2009 by Lisa

I don't care if your graphics are blurry. Those are some compelling numbers.

We're seeing online ads as effective tools at building awareness and driving indirect traffic, even as their effectiveness as direct response mechanism wanes. Your argument that digital should be a major tool used to drive brick and mortar sales makes all the sense in the world to me.

Posted at 12:49 PM on Oct 29, 2009 by Adam Kleinberg

Matt, in a future article, please describe the techniques retailers can use to track the effect of their online spend on retail store traffic and transactions.

Posted at 12:52 PM on Oct 29, 2009 by Howard Seibel

Thanks for pointing out the blurry graphs, I worked with Maryann at MediaBizBlog to fix same. Looks pretty good.

Posted at 08:22 AM on Oct 30, 2009 by megan

Matthew is correct... I suppose fear still motivates those who make the budget decisions in Retail (and other categories. And to think that testing (which is what marketing is all about) is much cheaper in this channel than ink on paper- it just boggles the mind!

Posted at 08:34 AM on Oct 30, 2009 by ATonti

Matt’s agency, Blue Ribbon Digital helped make my company, Discount Tire Company the dominant

player in the Tires & Wheel retail space, online. In fact, while the agency drove millions of dollars

in e-commerce sales annually, it was the online-to-offline retail sales model that interested me most. Together

we proved-out the idea that our customers are online, but, prefer to transact offline.

Posted at 08:51 AM on Oct 30, 2009 by Mike