In my day job, we had a campaign go live on different media platforms (digital and television).
We took a certain Platform A over another (let’s call it B) on digital.
In fact the other platform wasn’t even in consideration.
The salesperson from another platform B called me up. I was in a meeting. He called my colleague. Then he called the PoC from the media agency almost 10 times in two hours.
Sent me a long WhatsApp message to complain how the media agency didn’t consider them. He went on to rant about why his Platform B was best because it had 400 million users whereas Platform A had only 40 million users.
Finally, we spoke. And immediately after the hi-hellos, an audio version of his WhatsApp text barged in. For the next five minutes, I wasn’t even allowed to sigh.
At once he finished and I replied, “your first line- that your platform is 400 million and the one we have taken is 40 million- is the reason why your platform has not been considered”
Not allowing time for himself to understand, he repeated why it’s ridiculous to not consider them.
Finally, I had to say it- look buddy, we don’t need the mass, we need the class. And your competition seems have one. Look at the ads they do on their platform (context) and why my brand being placed there is equally important than being placed on a platform that reportedly has 400 million.
He was unrelenting and pushed targeting on his platform. Eventually, my silence made him realise that his efforts were of little use.
Something similar happened for a digital programmatic company who wanted to know why we didn’t go for their amazing programmatic platform that would open the doors of open internet.
Open internet is a black box. I have written a detailed article that showcases how basic demographic demarking for an individual on internet is flawed. You might appear in a male cohort or female cohort; you might be 18, 39 or 54. You might be tagged as government employee, car-owner or daily wage-earner.
There’s no way to know who is who or even if they are what we are expecting in the open internet.
That’s why it is always better to use platforms where people consume content in a controlled environment- i.e. Facebook or YouTube or a direct publisher.
Anyway, that’s not the point. The point here is digital media has marketing problems-positioning and knowing the brand.
Positioning is for themselves- they are everything to everyone. The moment it happens, you allow the advertiser to compare you to YouTube and Meta- where you have no stand of your own. And so, the conversation, sadly, comes down to saying ‘humko bhi kuch dedo’. It clearly says you can offer no value when compared against.
The problem may also be because too many media salespeople in a media company and hardly any marketing people to position their platform or make it attractive enough for the advertiser.
The second is understanding the brand you are pitching to. What’s the brand about? What’s the campaign about? Who is the target?
Interestingly, no matter how many brief documents you share it- the solution is almost the same.
In our case, the particular platform we selected was because of the premium value brought both by users on the platform and the advertiser.
Finally, on another weird note. I receive a call from a media sales guy. I said someone else reached out couple of weeks ago. Talk to him.
He replies the guy is no longer in the system.
That was a quick move, I add.
Maybe he had to move because you are the reason he had to move on (because I didn’t advertise on his platform, the first time he called)!