Polite Advertising. Minding Our P's and Q's.

October 17, 2004

I've been involved in the online business when we were getting excited about banners and ads in newsletters. Search marketing did not exist. Pop-up advertising, never heard of it. SPAM was non-existent. Rich media wasn't possible. Yes, that's right, back in the stone age the good ole' days when online marketing was polite, non intrusive and effective. Sure, things need to evolve and progress. There are lots of examples of good companies building good online advertising products.

As marketers we did not mind our P's and Q's. We built ad technology for technology's sake. We didn't take into account the consumer. From pop-ups to SPAM to spyware, why do we think these things are okay? Maybe Internet marketing is going through its rebellious teenage years. The state of the online ad market is, "I don't care what you think. I know pop-ups and SPAM are not right, but the more you tell me no, the more I'm going to do it." That is about to change. Consumers are fighting back.

The launch of "Polite Advertising" is upon us. Dotomi realizes it. It is what we are working on at Pheedo. Polite Advertising was not invented by some marketing guy. It is being demanded by consumers. The smart marketers are listening to consumers and building tools to accommodate.

Polite Advertising says, Joe and Sally Consumer, you are in control now, what do you want? Just ask any TIVO consumer who is in control of their TV time, or Podcaster who is controlling their radio and music or a consumer of content feeds controlling their content consumption. It is not the advertisers or media outlets controlling when I consume, where and on what device. I vote with my remote, I read with speed (RSS) and I delete with defiance. I am constantly filtering out unwanted ads, unwanted content and unwanted email. I'm time shifting my media consumption.

Polite advertising is beyond permission. Permission marketing says, "Can I send an ad to you." Polite Advertising says, "Can I send an ad to you? Where can I send it? Which companies do you want to hear from? How often? Please, Thank You, Yes Sir, No Ma'am. Was this okay?"

With the gaining mass adoption of TIVO, TV networks are scrambling to come up with a new ad model. The do-not-call law has devastated the telemarketing business. The CAN-SPAM law sent ripples through the email ad business. Online marketers should take notice and learn from their offline older (wiser) siblings before it gets any further out of hand. With the growing popularity of weblogs, any irrelevance, annoyance, or lack of control will spread through the blogosphere in no time.

Content syndication (RSS & ATOM) is gaining steam. It will have a dramatic affect on the online ad business just as TIVO has affected TV advertising. Consumers have more control with RSS. Publishers will soon realize consumers will want more out of their content feed. They'll want to customize it to their specific needs (PubSub). But that also means RSS needs to grow-up and meet the demands of the consumer.

Let's work together to keep the RSS channel user-friendly. Let's mind our P's and Q's this time around. Consumers are demanding Polite Advertising.

Posted by Bill Flitter on October 17, 2004 12:49 PM
Permalink | Feedback(0) | TrackBack (0)