The digital divide

The digital divide cuts to the heart of what separates traditional advertising practitioners from the new digerati. Nowhere can this knowledge divide be more obvious than in the advertising and media industry. But that could all soon be a thing of the past.

The term digital divide was first coined in the US about 15 years ago, to describe the gaps in ownership of computers (and the consequent lack of access to information) largely defined by ethnic and economic status. But this is not the only division that has been caused by digital.

Fact: there are those can that bandy about the new media terminology (CPA, CPC, CPM etc) with abandon and those who conveniently prefer to use the bandwidth excuse and the rather tedious interface of the Internet to continue to pay less attention to online marketing solutions than to its sexier broadcast cousins. The added rationale for avoiding digital being the obvious factor that for mass market reach in Africa, an online campaign cannot hope to reach the same amount of people as an outdoor or primetime SABC solution. Or can it?

Coupled with the above factors, with every geek and pixel purveyor proselytising about the wonders of digital, it is no wonder that clients and agencies alike retreat to the comfort of a traditional approach. You know, the one that includes TV, radio, print, oh and a banner ad - somewhere.

What is missing from the above approach and what is emerging as the keyword of the new media is INTEGRATION.

Also what is becoming apparent is that planning an online marketing strategy is nothing like planning an above-, below- or through-the-line one. How so?

If you look at the digital campaigns that have won big at Cannes this year, such as The Great Schlep (www.thegreatschlep.com) and Sagami condoms (http://w00kie.com/2009/08/14/sagami-original-condom-ad/), you will see textbook examples of the crucial INTEGRATION approach - which requires only two things - a crystal clear marketing objective and a big (read also meaningful and engaging) idea.

Aspects to consider in a successfully integrated campaign, would be:

• what relevant "hook" will drive the target audience online - mobile, experiential or traditional?
• which of the plethora of other relevant online media channels, blogs etc, will be used to carry the marketing message or drive traffic and why?
• what changes in behavior, involvement or action do you want the online experience inspire?
• how extensive could the additional PR or social media awareness spinoffs be?
• and, it goes without saying, how will all these be couched so as to be unique to your brand?

While we are on the subject, perhaps a contributing factor as to - correct me if I'm wrong - whythere was an underlying feeling of dissatisfaction around the awarding of this year's digital Loerie prizes, which no one can quite put their finger on, is this: apart from one or two exceptions, they did not generate the mass changes in awareness or behaviour that it has been demonstrated the medium can achieve and which is its raison d'etre. They did not inspire us to vote differently, migrate to Florida or wear a condom.

Thus, the race for a unique or breakthrough use of digital communication on our continent is still wide open. One would hope that the mythical divide between specialist "online" practitioners and other advertising service providers will soon disappear and that anyone charged with communications will be able to integrate a powerful digital aspect in their marketing mix simply by following the above approach.