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Johannesburg - Online advertising spend remains low because it's still not taken seriously, according to Pete Case, creative director and founder of Gloo Digital Design. The head of the award-winning agency says a comment made after the digital section at the Loeries, to the effect that it was time for the real advertising awards to begin, said a lot about the mindset around online.
"There is lots of talk but not so much action; there's also too much focus on what we can't do rather than what we can," he elaborates. He doesn't dismiss the fact that the speed of local internet connection is an issue. Nor does he overlook that most of the population does not have access to the internet. As for not every product or service being suitable for online, even that can be worked around.
He says: "Not everything requires speed, and sometimes it is the simple things that are overlooked." Case provides a campaign to drive Cosmo audiences online as an example: readers were mobilised by sms messages and traffic peaked by 90%.
Speaking at Tony Koenderman's brainstorm conference Catch a Wake-up, which was attended by senior advertising and marketing people, Case said more homework had to be done to understand interconnectedness between brand segments. This is the starting point to recognising how an audience can connect and interact with the marketer.
Case presents digital as not an addition, as it is often viewed, but rather an added medium that should receive as much consideration as any other. As much as timing can make or break the work, so can the briefing. Simply dictating to digital agencies and not allowing them to be a part of the process and discovering what a brand needs often results in a copy-cat mentality. All that happens is much of the same, lacking in creativity and boring consumers.
The answer: get the digital experts in from the start and strategise with them. Educating clients will only happen if they are engaged and begin to understand what it takes to produce the end result.
"Own a unique idea and direction and stick to it," emphasises Case. Most importantly, stop making excuses and dithering until you are ready to implement a digital strategy.
- Fin24.com