Cyber Monday and Interactive Marketing

In case you haven't noticed, today is Cyber Monday. I jest, because I'm not sure that it is possible NOT to notice. I must have heard or read "Cyber Monday" about a dozen times today...in the newspaper, on the radio, and on TV. Anyway, now that the Christmas online shopping season is officially underway, let's revisit the unique features of marketing and advertising in an interactive media environment. Direct mail advertising has been around for eons. Postcards, flyers, catalogs and “official” letters fill our mailboxes to overflowing. Fast forward to today where we have, in addition, targeted email filling our inboxes to overflowing. We used to call it spam—but now, in order to be legit, email marketing must pass the CAN-SPAM test and contain opt-out instructions, accurate subject line information, contact information, etc. Web advertising started with banner ads and pop-ups that begged for our attention—tempting us to “click” for more information or to “win a prize.” Soon we learned to ignore anything blinking or flashing and the hot new craze was contextual ads that related to the content of the pages on which they were displayed.

Well, the latest trend is “behavioral marketing” or, “behavioral targeting”—the placement of interactive ads based on your surfing behavior. Think about it, it really is a win-win proposition. Based on your clickstream data and IP information, you are presented with advertisements that are tailored to your purchasing intentions. You visit a few comparison shopping sites for a specific item, and related ads magically appear in the margins of the page. And not only is the product or service matched to your interests, but they can even tailor the message to the surfer’s purchase cycle phase, e.g., awareness, consideration, trial, purchase, and engagement. On Monday, TiVO announced an ad search feature that would accomplish something similar, but for TV. According to C/Net, "The new feature is designed to allow users to receive advertisements based on their interests, after creating their user profile on the TiVo set-top box." Ah, you’ve gotta love those ingenious marketers...always one step ahead of us!