Remember the good old days where "Talentime" was just about singing & sashaying in a group of 5? Now we have competitions like the "American Idol" or locally, “Singapore Idol” where it's about the whole package. You've got to have the looks, voice, versatility... everything! Don't have it? Forget about it!
Recently, a competition in the US called " America 's Got Talent" featured Bianca Ryan, a 11-year-old girl with a big voice. (
Youtube.com) She's quite pretty and has the voice – people see her as the next big thing because she has the complete package.
What’s my point? We might apply the same thing to advertising – it used to be just about print ads in the newspapers and through billboards. Then came along Radio and TV. Now, with online and mobile, people are expecting more, much more – you’ve got to have the complete package when you launch a new product or service, people expect to be able to see, connect and feedback on your brand - 360 degrees.
It’s the last bit that is particularly interesting – recently Samsung launched a new campaign in which people sign up to use their new Ultra series of phones and blog about it. Having scanned the site, we noticed not all the user experiences documented have been positive. It’s commendable that (so far) no slinky moderator has been seen going around stealthily removing negative comments and content. That is a necessary characteristic of having the whole package in this new advertising era – facing negatives head-on. Companies are going to need that honesty if they are going to use social networks and the like effectively to market their products and services.
Ade