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Nov 09, 2005 03:58 PM
The Interactive Marketing Model
In 2002, we published an article entitled "e;The Interactive Marketing Model"e; in
the SmartCEO Book of Big Ideas. This article is a reprint and will be followed
by a postscript in the next entry, with three years of perspective on the model,
how it’s emerging, and what has changed.
We’ve been working from this marketing model since the company’s inception in
1998, and we started getting vocal about it by 2001. It’s the only way we ever
knew. Because we started our company post-Internet, it was the only way
that ever made sense. The following article first appeared in SmartCEO
(www.smartceo.com) in the 2002 Book of Big Ideas. We caught a fair amount of
flack from the local marketing establishment on this, and we had it coming (who
did we think we were, telling people the truth?) -- but so did they. Between the
Internet taking hold and the economy booming and busting, it was time for a dose
of reality. Here is a condensed version of the article. In the next entry,
we’ll make a postscript to this article -- almost four years after its
publication.
The Interactive Marketing Model
"e;The Marketing Model of the Next Hundred Years"e;
Through the IMM, You Are Your Agency
It’s like the Copernican Revolution, for Marketing.
For as long as there have been ad agencies, they have had the client convinced
that the agency is the Earth, and that the client (the Sun) revolves around
them. Copernicus proved that the Earth and the other planets travel around the
Sun -- not the other way around. And the Internet has brought on a sort of
Copernican Revolution in marketing and changed that kind of attitude, hopefully
for good.
Because of the Internet, some of the best creative talent in America, whether
designer, writer or technologist, are working in small niche companies that
serve the client directly. Because of the Internet, we are living in a
consumer-direct culture, where people and organizations have direct
relationships with the goods and the service providers they need -- no middle
men. It’s past time to make the most of the talent and technology that’s
available to you, and make the most of your marketing dollars in the process.
The Interactive Marketing Model makes it possible for small and mid-sized
organizations to market with the sophistication of the Fortune 500, but to do it
affordably and with more control. We began evangelizing this model in 1998,
telling clients and potential clients (and anyone who would listen) that between
their Web design company and our consulting and writing services, they didn’t
need an agency. It was true then, and it is even truer today. Today potential
clients finish our sentences for us. No one wants an agency, because no one
wants to pay the mark-up on their services (which the agency often subcontracts
to niche companies and freelancers). And no one wants to give up the kind of
creative control that the agency model necessitates.
By contracting and paying for only the services you need, you save dollars and
maintain transparent relationships with your vendors. And by contracting
directly with the delivery partners that actually do the work, you ensure that
nothing is lost in the information food chain. For example, if you don’t like
the copy that the agency produced for your print ad, there’s a reason.
Somewhere between you, your agency’s account rep, project manager, creative
director and the freelance copywriter who is (unbeknownst to you) serving your
account from "e;an undisclosed location"e; -- what you communicated to your account
rep got lost. And finding it costs money, billed against your retainer,
multiplied by the number of black turtlenecks on your account. It doesn’t have
to be that way.
It’s Your Virtual Agency, and You’re in Charge
The interesting thing about this model is that if one part breaks -- say your
designer can’t quite seem to nail the design you’re looking for, or the
copywriter is unavailable -- you have the ability to hold that person or group
accountable. If that happens, your marketing model and your initiatives will
keep moving forward as a whole, and another delivery partner will qualify itself
and fill the gap.
Smith Content (www.smithcontent.com) didn’t Invent The Interactive Marketing
Model. The Internet Did. We (along with a thousand other marketing companies)
fostered the development of the Interactive Marketing Model (IMM) by working
from a partner model (http://www.smithcontent.com/your_partner.asp)with top-level
Web designers, print designers, search engine optimizers, public relations
companies and the like. We wired ourselves to the companies that are getting
the hard work of interactive marketing done. We know how to build teams and be
team players. We can build a virtual agency of interchangeable parts to serve
your organization and its specific needs or play the role of content expert in
your virtual agency. But the key is to use this model to take ownership of your
brand, your budget and your marketing destiny.
One question we often field is, "e;Within this partner model, who is coordinating
these moving parts?"e; Our default is always to the client when the client wants
to play that role -- your marketing director or your marketing coordinator should
be able to bring the power of this model to bear for you. It is a fact that no
one knows more about your organization than you, and once a company realizes the
depth and breadth of creative resources that are available to them, they usually
choose to contract with and manage the providers they need to handle their
initiatives. When an organization doesn’t have the internal resources to carry
out the initiatives they need or to manage the team they have built, Smith
Content is more than competent and perfectly comfortable in that role. We can
be advisor, consultant, coordinator or content developer -- all four if necessary.
If you are Ford Motor Company, you probably need an ad agency. If you are a
middle market company or growing business, you just need interactive marketing
partners that get it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The postscript to this will follow in the next entry.
the SmartCEO Book of Big Ideas. This article is a reprint and will be followed
by a postscript in the next entry, with three years of perspective on the model,
how it’s emerging, and what has changed.
We’ve been working from this marketing model since the company’s inception in
1998, and we started getting vocal about it by 2001. It’s the only way we ever
knew. Because we started our company post-Internet, it was the only way
that ever made sense. The following article first appeared in SmartCEO
(www.smartceo.com) in the 2002 Book of Big Ideas. We caught a fair amount of
flack from the local marketing establishment on this, and we had it coming (who
did we think we were, telling people the truth?) -- but so did they. Between the
Internet taking hold and the economy booming and busting, it was time for a dose
of reality. Here is a condensed version of the article. In the next entry,
we’ll make a postscript to this article -- almost four years after its
publication.
The Interactive Marketing Model
"e;The Marketing Model of the Next Hundred Years"e;
Through the IMM, You Are Your Agency
It’s like the Copernican Revolution, for Marketing.
For as long as there have been ad agencies, they have had the client convinced
that the agency is the Earth, and that the client (the Sun) revolves around
them. Copernicus proved that the Earth and the other planets travel around the
Sun -- not the other way around. And the Internet has brought on a sort of
Copernican Revolution in marketing and changed that kind of attitude, hopefully
for good.
Because of the Internet, some of the best creative talent in America, whether
designer, writer or technologist, are working in small niche companies that
serve the client directly. Because of the Internet, we are living in a
consumer-direct culture, where people and organizations have direct
relationships with the goods and the service providers they need -- no middle
men. It’s past time to make the most of the talent and technology that’s
available to you, and make the most of your marketing dollars in the process.
The Interactive Marketing Model makes it possible for small and mid-sized
organizations to market with the sophistication of the Fortune 500, but to do it
affordably and with more control. We began evangelizing this model in 1998,
telling clients and potential clients (and anyone who would listen) that between
their Web design company and our consulting and writing services, they didn’t
need an agency. It was true then, and it is even truer today. Today potential
clients finish our sentences for us. No one wants an agency, because no one
wants to pay the mark-up on their services (which the agency often subcontracts
to niche companies and freelancers). And no one wants to give up the kind of
creative control that the agency model necessitates.
By contracting and paying for only the services you need, you save dollars and
maintain transparent relationships with your vendors. And by contracting
directly with the delivery partners that actually do the work, you ensure that
nothing is lost in the information food chain. For example, if you don’t like
the copy that the agency produced for your print ad, there’s a reason.
Somewhere between you, your agency’s account rep, project manager, creative
director and the freelance copywriter who is (unbeknownst to you) serving your
account from "e;an undisclosed location"e; -- what you communicated to your account
rep got lost. And finding it costs money, billed against your retainer,
multiplied by the number of black turtlenecks on your account. It doesn’t have
to be that way.
It’s Your Virtual Agency, and You’re in Charge
The interesting thing about this model is that if one part breaks -- say your
designer can’t quite seem to nail the design you’re looking for, or the
copywriter is unavailable -- you have the ability to hold that person or group
accountable. If that happens, your marketing model and your initiatives will
keep moving forward as a whole, and another delivery partner will qualify itself
and fill the gap.
Smith Content (www.smithcontent.com) didn’t Invent The Interactive Marketing
Model. The Internet Did. We (along with a thousand other marketing companies)
fostered the development of the Interactive Marketing Model (IMM) by working
from a partner model (http://www.smithcontent.com/your_partner.asp)with top-level
Web designers, print designers, search engine optimizers, public relations
companies and the like. We wired ourselves to the companies that are getting
the hard work of interactive marketing done. We know how to build teams and be
team players. We can build a virtual agency of interchangeable parts to serve
your organization and its specific needs or play the role of content expert in
your virtual agency. But the key is to use this model to take ownership of your
brand, your budget and your marketing destiny.
One question we often field is, "e;Within this partner model, who is coordinating
these moving parts?"e; Our default is always to the client when the client wants
to play that role -- your marketing director or your marketing coordinator should
be able to bring the power of this model to bear for you. It is a fact that no
one knows more about your organization than you, and once a company realizes the
depth and breadth of creative resources that are available to them, they usually
choose to contract with and manage the providers they need to handle their
initiatives. When an organization doesn’t have the internal resources to carry
out the initiatives they need or to manage the team they have built, Smith
Content is more than competent and perfectly comfortable in that role. We can
be advisor, consultant, coordinator or content developer -- all four if necessary.
If you are Ford Motor Company, you probably need an ad agency. If you are a
middle market company or growing business, you just need interactive marketing
partners that get it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The postscript to this will follow in the next entry.
