I am writing this post out of anger, and angst. I know. Best frame of mind to be in right?
I love Marketing. It is my second career after B2B Sales/Business Development. It fascinates me to no end. In some ways in large scale it is more complex than say the Missile Defense Program. Imagine having to come up with the Marketing Strategy and Buy for a blockbuster film with a massive budget. Having to figure out not only the content but the platforms and where those will be. How can someone in an office in NY or LA know when they buy placement on 1000 billboards nationwide where they all are located? Or all the Bus Stops and Bus Wraps etc etc. You also have to get everything set including any cross promotions all to run at the right time to maximize excitement to see a film in the movies and if you fail your client could lose millions. No pressure right?
And we all would agree we are consumers and like learning about new products, services, brands etc locally and nationally. Even if Brands are not the focus of our lives like Marketers want to believe they are, I am ok with this disconnect because we are performing a service. In fact I wrote about this not long ago:
But with the emergence of G+ I get angry at what I have seen all along. This view by Marketers that they have an inalienable right to market to us anywhere our eyes go. I mean there is marketing being sold on the plastic deodorizers that sit at the bottom of men's urinal's at bars!
Currently Twitter and Facebook enable us to market in some way shape or form based on the current platform format. Twitter because it is public. Facebook while Brand Pages, Places, Open Graph, etc have failed miserably to drive sales or awareness beyond a very small percent of the Fan base, you can buy Ads on the network. You can't reach me because I block almost all digital ads except from some very specific websites I care about and wish to help them with revenue like the Economist. But I never click on Ads. And anyone who knows me, knows I hate Facebook for being Hucksters, Exploiters, Shysters, and Slimeballs. So I surely am not reachable on Facebook by Marketers.
But now G+ is coming out and Marketers are insisting they have a place there. And that is BULLSHIT! Buy a Digital Ad if you want in. But I am not bringing them into my world there. I can already find them when I want how I want 24/7. Just like Telemarketers crying over the Do Not Call Registery like they have a right to call me at dinner time there is a lot of Social Media Marketers, Agencies, and Talking Heads scared shitless if they are locked out their Fraudulent Gravy Train is gone. No more books and speaking engagements shoveling shit for money are gullible business owners. No more fame and fortune. No it will be back to reality!
Two great posts on the G+ Marketing Fraudsters including some of the biggest names in social being taken down and exposed come from:
Gini Dietrich on Spin Sucks - Beware the Google+ Experts
and
I think you should speak your mind Howie. I am also sick and tired of stupid FB ads and block them as much as I can.
ReplyDeleteFor a 2.0 platform they certainly picked up the old advertising carpet bombing mindset from the 60s.
Thanks for saying it like it is.
See, socializing and networking I can do. Try to sell me anything online, not so good. And likewise, I'm probably not going to try and sell you anything either.
ReplyDeleteHowever, through getting to know you and knew of someone who needed services you had to offer and I thought it would be a good fit; I wouldn't hesitate one bit to send them your way. To me, that is what the networking is all about.
And that's probably all I'm going to say about that.....
Tell us how you really feel, Howie. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't like being marketed to anywhere and everywhere either. On the other hand, it *is* a free world or, at least, country.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here: isn't there some responsibility on the part of those "selling" that "space" as well, or those accepting the revenue? Not to mention those using the platform. Take the cigarette industry, for example. If the government is really serious about eliminating smoking as a health risk, why are cigarettes a legal product when, in most states, marijuana is not? (I'm not a user, just to be clear, but using this as an example of what are, in my opinion, double standards.)
You and I may not care for Facebook ads, but some people find them useful. Personally, I agree with you on Google+, which I still haven't really gotten into, because I imagine once businesses start using it, my stream has the potential to become extremely flooded. But then it's on me to control what I see, allow in my Circles, etc., which businesses (if any) I follow, etc.
It takes two hands to clap, after all...