Media Planners Go Micro

At yesterday's OMMA East Expo, CEO David Verklin of Carat North America, the world's largest independent media agency, told the audience "In the digital age, we need to be able to manage thousands of small placements, as opposed to just the big blockbuster properties... It's not about reaching every consumer, it's about reaching the right consumers" (via Steve Rubel/MediaPost).

This is becoming the new imperative for media planners and buyers grappling with the realities of an increasingly splintered and consumer-driven media environment. This week, Forrester released a new study showing continued consumer drift away from mainstream media towards blogs and RSS. According to the Internet Daily report:

Technology is making it easier to ignore mainstream media advertising. Instead, consumers are using Web logs, mobile messaging, comparison shopping Web sites, and word-of-mouth to make buying decisions, according to Forrester Research Inc.

Data released Tuesday by the firm reported 10% of consumers read blogs at least once a week, compared with 5% a year ago. Really Simple Syndication feeds (RSS) are used by 6%, compared to 2% in 2004.

Technology has given consumers an option to tune businesses out, and tune each other in," said Chris Charron, a Forrester vice president, in a statement. "On the flip side, technology has given businesses an opportunity to gain greater customer insights at a lower cost," by monitoring blogs and Web sites and message boards "to uncover consumer insight and accelerate the innovation of products, services, and design," he said.

Tags: marketing rss advertising