Internet Good or Bad? Discuss.<< The blogosphere is important for ALL marketing functions | Main | BBC demystifies RSS >> Julian Smith | January 12, 2006, 08:31 AM Who Killed Connie? AOL did, thank goodness!! Having ditched the sickly sweet Connie character from their UK advertising (created to provide a reassuring guide to the early Internet for newbies and their families) AOL is now back, filling our media space, with the recent launch of their latest customer acquisition / brand buiding activity. And what a difference a couple of years of Internet adoption have made! This time, with Internet penetration and usage much more firmly entrenched amongst the UK population, AOL has produced a great, thoughtproking campaign that has not only got the industry talking, for its "controversial" substance, but has also got the audience talking. AOL have spent £15 million on an intelligently integrated campaign (across TV, online, poster and print media) to present the 'good' and the 'bad' sides of the Internet and encourage the audience to go discuss online. (And it sounds like they got John Hurt to do the voice-over which is inspired given its 1984 Big Brother connotations)! I applaud AOL for this campaign. Clearly they have done their homework. It exemplifies where advertising is going in a new era of consumer empowerment. The creative doesnot try to sell features and benefits, it sparks a discussion. It does not present a monologue, telling me what I should believe, it encourages me to make up my own mind. The call-to-action is not "buy-me-now", it is "participate" or "join in" with the debate. The online element is not just a bolt-on, afterthought that replicates offline media messages, it is the heart and soul of the campaign. As 2006 unfolds I am hoping to see more and more campaigns like this, with consumer engagement at the core. Lets hope other traditional advertisers and their agencies are paying attention!! |