No it doesn’t. Here’s an analogy of the question and probably that will give you the rationale behind the NO. Consider digital as the magic brush. One that brings everything you paint with it, to life. However, you must note the extensive repercussions of your brush stroke before unleashing your genius. Do these repercussions ever make you revisit the winged unicorn you were conjuring up? Nope, it only makes you go wilder.
Digital advertising is the golden goose of marketing. It feeds on small pockets of your marketing budget and gives you an ROI worth its weight in gold.
Digital advertising requires the same amount of market research, analysis, in-your-audience’s-shoes thinking, statistics on user behaviour leading up to ideation. Sounds familiar? Yes, advertising in the online world requires the same imperative actions like in the offline realm. The only difference is that these statistics are more precise, accountable and can be diced, spliced and everything in between to maximize ad impact.
As people spend lesser and lesser time with traditional media (Ed: ever wondered why they call it ‘traditional’ media?), and more time with the electronic media, avenues to capture the audience’s interest is shifting towards digital means. This means that advertisers are now pushing the envelope of digital creativity to unforeseen heights and how.
Digital creativity is at its peak. What with the most amazing campaigns of the decade – the Livestrong Chalkbot, the Ikea Facebook showroom, the Evian Roller Baby commercial, the FIAT Eco:Drive, creativity that inspires people to be involved with the brand. That’s what digital is about. Digital advertising gives marketers the ability to be a part of their audience’s life. Move over brand recall, how about brand involvement?
When asked about digital advertising, every one in three people will go down the way of the magic brush. Digital to them is the epitome of freedom for marketers. To fully harness the true power of digital advertising is upon us. We try everyday to harness it but only end up pushing the envelope further away.
There is however, more to digital advertising than just creative. There is search marketing – the unsung hero of digital advertising. The hero of the day that helps you gain leads through techniques such as re-marketing and competitor market analysis, but that’s for another article. With all this and more, you see how digital offers the complete package?
Social media – the obvious elephant in the room. There are articles aplenty written about how amazing the social media is and what is its true potential yada yada…. but how creative can you get? The difference between a social media campaign and an offline ad is the power of the idea. The offline ad, mostly, demands a idea with a solid upper cut. A social campaign is more than that – it requires an idea that has the steam to pull audiences, retain its freshness and add value over a period of time. An endearing list you say? Let me take you back again to the Ikea showroom campaign. It IS possible. The example is not a one-off. There have been campaigns aplenty on the social media-scape that has captured the minds of its audience.
Top sum up, creativity in digital advertising is shaped around paradigms that have typically groomed its offline brethren. Add the preciseness of campaign data obtained and its fruitful ROI and you will know why digital should be at the core of every marketing campaign – this is creativity for a marketer’s conscience.