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NATIONAL POST, TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005 FP9

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So how do you make a great, CHOOSE ACLEAR STRATEGY first impression on the Web? It starts with a clear strategy agreed upon ahead of time, Mr. More and more, Berman says. A classic mistake many businesses make is to the first exposure begin with the design, which may be more fun, but won’t nec- will be the Web essarily guarantee a successful PAUL B RENT site. Ad Lib Rather, businesses need to B Y C HARLES M ANDEL outline the outcomes they wish to achieve with their sites and istening to the cries of pain We’ve all seen them: the neglect- not only pinpoint what consti- L directed at its nanny — better ed Web sites with stale informa- tutes success, but specify dates by known as the CRTC — about the tion and out-of-date phone num- which they can measure the ef- broadcast regulator’s decision bers — if you can even find the fectiveness of their sites. last week to give satellite licences site at all. It’s no way to do busi- Mr. Berman believes entrepre- to all three subscription radio ness, according to David Berman neurs should know who it is they hopefuls, one would think CHUM (www.davidberman.com), an want to visit their site and how Ltd.’s substantial radio business Ottawa-based communications long they want them to stay. “If faces near-immediate extinction. and Web guru. we could have them leave the site Nothing could be further from “People put a lot of effort into having received one message, the truth. The industry is hot, making their letterhead and what would it be? Then the de- coming off two great advertising business cards look great,’’ Mr. sign of the site can focus on ful- years and an ’05 that owes its Berman says, “but more and filling that.” gains, at least in part, to the ab- more, the first exposure your Amber MacArthur (www.- sence of NHL hockey playoffs. company will have to its audi- ambermac.com), Web strategist (All those ad dollars have to wind ence will be its Web presence. for Toronto-based consultants up somewhere.) “We know how important first iPrimate and co-host of CHUM and the other cultural impressions are.” G4techTV’s show, nationalists have complained agrees it’s more important than that satellite’s Canadian content ever to have a Web site. “It really requirements are not heavy legitimizes your business online, CRISPIN PORTER + BOGUSKY enough — just 10%, versus 35% and it’s a place to showcase what The “subservient chicken” Web site, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky of the U.S. for Burger King, for conventional radio — but they IN NEWAGE you do to an international com- lets people give orders to an actor dressed as a chicken. Although it cost less than a television commer- all miss the point, deliberately or munity, because there are no cial, it has attracted 418 million visitors who stay for an average of six minutes. otherwise. People are paying for boundaries.” the right to listen to satellite ADVERTISING, A well-designed Web site radio. Paying extra for the equip- should offer easy access to infor- ment, paying a monthly subscrip- mation and ease of use, says Ms. The Web means rethinking advertising. Now agencies tion fee — paying, incidentally, CONSUMERS MacArthur, who has been a judge are looking at how — and what — to make it pay not to listen to commercials. for the Webbys, the awards given The Canadian Radio-television annually to the ’s best and Telecommunications Com- Web sites. Ms. MacArthur adds mission decision is viewed by al- CALLYOU that Flash animation and other most everyone as a negative for bells and whistles are secondary conventional radio broadcasters, to content. who continue to attract advertis- MOBILE IS THE MESSAGE Finding the right Internet ad- What’s the price ers despite managing to turn the dress is crucial, Mr. Berman medium into a flavourless mix- says, who warns against using ture of Pablum over the past few LONDON • Mobile telephones “bargain basement-sounding” decades. Radio types should be and other wireless communica- URLs. “For the Web, the brand less worried about potential satel- tion devices will soon become the is the product and the URL is lite radio listeners, and more con- most important medium for ad- often the very thing we’re cerned about the P2P-download- vertisers to reach technology- promoting. In terms of driving of pop culture? ing, CD-ripping, iPod-wearing savvy consumers. traffic, this branding ‘Aha!’ is crowd who have turned away This forecast by Andrew critical.” from conventional radio. Robertson, chief executive of Once the site is built, busi- of the Henley Centre, WPP’s strategic mar- As for CHUM and its competi- Omnicom’s BBDO advertising nesses can direct people to their B Y G ARY S ILVERMAN keting consultancy. “It’s a mass production tors, most analysts expect the agency, the world’s third- site in a number of ways. Ms. model.” satellite death stars to be less- biggest, underscores the un- MacArthur advises including here may be no better measure Agencies have an incentive to change be- than lethal. Currently, satellite ac- certainties facing advertisers in the Web address on all market- of the difficulties facing adver- cause the economics of the television- counts for just 2% of listeners in developed markets as they shift ing communications, as well as tising agencies today than commercial business have been deteriorat- the U.S., a number expected to from their traditional depen- in e-mail signatures at the bot- David Lubars’ career plans. As ing. In the past, an agency earned 15% of grow to only 15% in 10 years. Con- dence on television. tom of any electronic corre- creative director at the Fallon what a client spent on advertising. But now ventional radio also has some ad- The problem for advertisers is spondence. Tagency, Mr. Lubars became famous in the companies are hiring procurement special- vantages: It can air local or re- that technological developments Networking is another way to ad industry by helping to develop promo- ists to squeeze fees, and the howls of pain gional commercials, and satellite such as the spread of digital push traffic toward the site. Ms. tional films for the BMW Web site that can be heard on Madison Avenue. can’t; and advertising isn’t limit- video recorders are giving con- MacArthur says exchanging ad- aimed at being as entertaining as anything At the same time, the new advertising ed to just six minutes per hour, as sumers the ability to avoid TV dresses on Web pages with other produced by Hollywood. approaches can produce remarkable re- with satellite radio. commercials. businesses helps keep Web sites But Mr. Lubars — who last year became turns. Especially on the Internet, many Mr. Robertson says he be- in the public eye. “When you chairman and chief creative officer of campaigns are attempts at viral marketing FREE ADVICE lieves the way forward for ad- talk about the Internet, it really BBDO North America, one of the biggest — creating an idea so compelling the press vertisers to reach consumers is a Web of information,’’ she U.S. advertising agencies — is now agnostic and the public will pass it along for free. It might pay to listen to Brett would be to use wireless devices says, “and what you want is to about Internet films. His goal is to produce The result can be more bang for an Marchand’s thoughts on the for- such as mobile phones, laptop try to get a lot of different con- “customized” advertising solutions, mean- advertiser’s buck. A good example is the mer king of (Canuck) beers, un- computers and the BlackBerry nections to your Web site and ing he is less worried about the media he “subservient chicken” Web site created by ceremoniously dethroned by the e-mail devices favoured by trav- get your name out there as uses than the results he generates. Crispin Porter + Bogusky of the U.S. for King of Beers: He’s one of a rare elling corporate executives on much as possible.” “The thing people keep looking for is: Burger King. breed, a brand manager on Mol- the go. Blogs add interest to a site, ‘What’s the new format?’” he says. “Are The site gives people a chance to give son Canadian who wasn’t fired, “We are rapidly getting to the Ms. MacArthur says. She advises films the new format? I don’t know. I don’t orders to an actor dressed as a chicken. demoted or kicked upstairs. Mr. point where the single most im- having the chief executive keep care if I ever do films again.” Developed for less than the cost of a U.S. Marchand, who these days toils portant medium that people a blog that talks about his indus- The question facing Mr. Lubars and his network television commercial, it has as president of Toronto agency have is their wireless device,” he try. “Blogs are a fantastic way to fellow travellers in advertising’s new wave attracted 418 million visitors — who stay Lowe Roche and works on the says. “It’s with them every single add personality to your site and is whether their agencies — which, after all, for an average of six minutes. Stella Artois brand, believes the moment of the day. It’s genuinely make it look fresh.” were built to make television commercials “When it’s well done and your work be- TV commercial-centric approach the convergence box that every- Some Web sites are adding — will be flexible enough to produce the comes an element of the pop culture, it is to the country’s former No. 1 beer one has been talking about for so Productorials. Produced by Pro- tailored solutions they envisage. more efficient,” says Farid Mokart, joint brand is all wrong. many years.” ductorial.com, these are short This kind of conversion is not unprece- president of Marcel, a new marketing “The biggest way you show While stressing the impor- online films featuring business dented in the annals of business. Banks agency in the Publicis group. “But there what your brand is all about is by tance of reaching consumers on people talking about their prod- managed a similar trick when they shifted are so many ideas that don’t work.” putting a 30- or 60-second TV ad wireless devices, Mr. Robertson ucts. The film opens as you arrive their emphasis from making one-size-fits- The hit-and-miss quality of the new era on the air,” Mr. Marchand said. is open about the difficulties at a site’s home page. “This is one all corporate loans to creating derivatives could increase the incentives for agencies “You put a ton of pressure on this will create for advertising more way to bring us a pop-up and structured financial products. to base their fees on the results they pro- [an] ad to reinvent a brand.” agencies. that isn’t a pop-up as pop-up But agencies are struggling to figure duce for an advertiser. It’s a curious stance for a mar- Unlike television viewers, cell- blockers become more popular,’’ out how to bill “This will all evolve keter who was in charge of Mol- phone users are unaccustomed Mr. Berman says. clients for delivering and change,” said son’s Rant ad, the home run to to commercial interruptions. To Both Ms. MacArthur and Mr. a concept — a cus- Andrew Robertson, which most beer executives con- reach them, agencies will have to Berman insist that once your site tomized mix of ser- chief executive of tinue to strive. But the Rant’s six- develop content so engaging that is up and running, someone vices that could in- BBDO Worldwide. week TV run gets too much credit mobile phone users will it seek must be put in charge of main- clude anything from “When a combination for the brand’s claimed 1.8 share out — a tall order. taining it. “You always want to a package design to a of technology and the point gains in the year. A bottom- “You have no way to interrupt look like it’s fresh and the infor- Web site to an idea unflinching behav- up brand redesign and Internet because they can choose what mation there is still valid,’’ Ms. for a television pro- iour of consumers marketing effort played a huge they can do,” Mr. Robertson says. MacArthur says. gram, or combina- changes the model, role too, says Mr. Marchand, who “The opportunity is if you can Mr. Berman says your Web site tions thereof. then the way you get states the Internet component is create some content that they should also be relevant and accu- “Advertising is a paid gets changed.” what’s missing from Zig’s current want to engage with, they can do rate. “We’ve all seen Web sites very 20th-century But he adds: “We campaign. “Let’s face it, that’s that all of the time from any- that spun out because they didn’t product,” says An- haven’t done it yet.” where the target lives.” where.” Gary Silverman, Finan- get attention.” drew Curry, director Financial Times Financial Post cial Times Financial Post [email protected]

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