Dedicate your energy to the online world, says paper

Marketers must spend more time online and immerse themselves in customers’ behaviour in the digital space, says the latest “Shape The Agenda” paper from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

The report, named “Returns on Digital”, says that while most marketers recognise that they need to create a dialogue, rather than blast out messages, they still find this hard to implement.

Marketers also need to “create a culture where risk-taking is more acceptable and occasional failure is part of the process”.

In the paper, published on4 March, Peter Sieyes, global digital and relationship marketing director at Diageo, says: “Our brand teams need to live online like our customers do. No one will challenge a print or TV advert, because they’re tried and tested – the budgets are established. But lots will challenge something new.

“Without a deep understanding of the way the customers we want to reach live their digital lives, it’s hard for marketers to imagine just how much opportunity there is for brands in the digital space.”

The emphasis on the measurability of the internet can actually damage the value of an ad campaign, the paper argues.
It quotes Yahoo! head of commercial development Guy Beresiner, who says: “Some companies will only do internet campaigns that are accountable, but this demotes the internet into an acquisition channel, and ignores the reasons why people are there in the first place.”