Social Media: A Huge Influencer But It's Not Advertising

I read a dangerous quote recently from a truly reliable source. It came from McKinsey Quarterly actually: “The sheer volume of information available today has dramatically altered the balance of power between companies and consumers. As consumers have become overloaded, they have become increasingly skeptical about traditional company-driven advertising and marketing and increasingly prefer to make purchasing decisions largely independent of what companies tell them about products."

Dang. Have we really come this far?

The article makes the case that consumers may have gone in this direction. But I need to take issue with the premise. I’m in the information-driven ad business. If I meet with you or your company I want you to know that the possible margin of error between your marketing our audience and your success is minimal. It would be easy for me to very simply say that knowledge is power as so many companies seem to be saying these days. It would be easy to say that advertising to the right audience segment would allow you to take a long lunch or even move on to the social media dominance McKinsey suggests. But it’s not the case. Social media is a huge purchase influencer and a huge reputation machine. But it’s not advertising.

Traditional company advertising has become more effective in my estimation since social media has come to the fore. There’s still an art and science to communicating the right image and the right message to the right audience. I don’t see major retailers like WalMart, or major CPGs like Coke or Pepsi or innovative car companies like VW using social media exclusively -- it’s part of an integrated advertising plan… it’s driven by advertising... it’s creative... and it’s verified by data.

It’s useful to know that consumers are “increasingly unaffected” by advertising. But it’s all the more reason to be more innovative. Because I would argue that the right consumers will always be affected by the right advertising.