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Alternative Mediums For Toronto
& Brampton Website
Marketing
Alternative media, by any other name, including
word-of-mouth, is a confusing collection of attempts to reach the
consumer while bypassing traditional advertising vehicles. Some
refer to it as buzz marketing. Others prefer street marketing,
guerrilla marketing, renegade marketing, virtual marketing, ambush
marketing, vanguard marketing, ambient marketing, covert marketing,
under-the-radar marketing, below-the-line marketing, diffusion
marketing or viral marketing.
Viral Video
Perhaps the most well known alternative advertising technique in
Toronto is the
viral video. Short videos, usually humorous or controversial, are
created. These videos are different from traditional commercials in
that the goal is generally to entertain the audience, not to inform
them about a particular product. While information transferal often
occurs as well, the aim of the viral video is to amuse. The idea is
that getting the product into the public consciousness is the best
thing that you can do; if people are curious, they will look up the
details themselves.
This model makes the consumer active in the process of advertising.
The consumer seeks out the product, meaning that they are already
putting forth more effort than the traditional television-watcher.
Because the consumer has been active, the likelihood that the
particulars of the product will stick with them is greatly
increased, meaning that when the consumer does need to purchase
something like the product, they will be more likely to remember the
particular product that they viewed the viral video for.
Blogs
Blogs are another method of reaching an audience that is tuned out
of the traditional television commercial and print advertising
markets. According to NetLingo, the Internet dictionary, blogs are a
frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and web
links. When compared with the slick production values of corporate
web sites, blogs have the same homespun appeal as fliers stapled to
telephone poles: crude but credible.
Blogs are the voice of the everyday person in Brampton. Anyone with an Internet
connection can establish a blog. Some of the more intrepid and
well-entrenched bloggers buy webhosting services and create their
own websites with nothing but their blogs on them, but this is not
necessary to enter the blogosphere. Free blog capabilities are
available on social networking site such as Myspace, Facebook, and
LiveJournal. Additionally, many smaller sites where people interact
with each other offer blogging capability to their members.
Literally anyone can become a blogger.
Blogs have also begun to enter the marketing sphere. They are an
essential part of the buzz-creating mechanism, especially among the
hip young Gen Yers. Young people and professionals increasingly turn
to the Internet for services their parents’ would never have thought
to be available them through the computer. Phonebooks are online;
directions can be obtained. News consumption increasingly occurs
online. This makes the Internet a great place to go to attract new
consumers, and blogs, because of their homespun appeal, the perfect
vehicle to build credibility.
Captive Audience
Companies such as TransitTV are working another angle of the
alternative marketing universe known as the captive audience. They
have installed 8,400 screens on over 3,000 public transportation
vehicles in five major US cities. These screens reach the “captive
audience.” You can't get away when you're sitting on a bus, in a
restroom stall, or in an elevator. There are no DVRs to fast forward
through commercials; you can't even turn the television off like you
could before the advent of the DVR. Companies offering these
services know exactly what they have to give advertisers, and
advertisers are buying it up.
By providing an audience that can't get away, that is completely
captive, TransitTV gets rid of the worst of traditional advertising
headaches. By having only one channel, they avoid the “channel
surfing” flipping from channel to channel to avoid commercials.
There is no other channel for viewers to change to. Of course, there
is no DVR on a screen in a bus. There is no way to “skip” the
commercial. Just like the rest of the programming, the audience has
no choice but to watch the advertisement.
TransitTV also offers “accurate measurement.” They offer accurate
demographic breakdowns and profiles, as well as measured and
accurate meters of advertising success. They monitor the rate of
return for advertisers using their network.
The Street Team
One branch of the alternative marketing movement that has been
getting more and more attention, and becoming more and more popular,
is making marketing personal. Advertisers seek to create personal
connections with the people that they are seeking to entice to
purchase their product. This can be done in many ways, but the most
solidly constructive is the creation of “street teams.”
Street teams are paid conversationalists. They go out into a market,
generally large cities, and hit the streets. They chat up people
they pass, touting a particular product or brand. They paper a city
with fliers and posters for that product. Often, they hand out free
sample or even full-size versions of the product being touted.
This model is the first step in creating buzz. You have to get
people talking about your product to create the word of mouth
network that will make your product take off. Advertisers have
discovered that one way to start the network of personal connections
that is buzz is to force personal connections between your consumers
and your company.
Buzz
All of these methods of advertising are aimed at creating “buzz" in
Toronto,
the underground swell of excitement about a new product or a
particular brand. Word-of-mouth now influences two-thirds of all
consumer product sales, according to a May 2001 report by a
reputable marketing firm. Once the exclusive province of renegade
boutique agencies bringing counterculture products to market, viral
marketing has literally spread like a cold, becoming a staple in
even the most traditional provinces.
One of the factors behind this movement is pure, simple economics.
The cost of a 30-second television spot in Brampton is now pushing $450,000 for
a single airing during primetime viewing hours. That is a very large
chunk of change, and it includes nothing but the airtime. It does
not include production costs of the ad itself. Manufacturers are
becoming game to try an alternative that boasts a price tag just a
fraction of that amount. No expensive media buys, pricey location
shoots or costly creative sessions.
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