Is Your Media Plan a Disaster?

Disaster Plan
Originally uploaded by TaranRampersad.

One of the best things about Twitter is the instantaneous sharing of ideas/links. And while I know there has been some discussion around Twitter hitting a plateau, I still have a suspicion that there is unrealised potential in it as a platform.

Be that as it may, my personal Twitter usage has dropped off. The unreliability of service is a major factor … but today when I logged on for the first time in days there was an immediate payoff. David Armano had broadcast this link to an intriguingly titled post "How to Completely Screw Up Interactive Media Planning" by Rohit Bhargava.

In this post, Rohit covers some of the pitfalls (or should I say shortfalls) of interactive media planning. One of my personal bugbears is that there are many planning agencies who pay lip service to digital/social networks while continuing to plough money into MSM buys. The cost of MSM involvement in terms of budget and attention is significant and many marketing directors and brand managers simply do not have the personal bandwidth to assess, manage or test non-traditional media tools — but the opportunity cost directly impacts BRAND INNOVATION.

In my view, social media or even an INTEGRATED media plan can provide a framework for brand innovation that can help reinvent or reposition the contact between brands and consumers. This is why I feel that interactive and social media is an exciting place to play … and work. So if your media plan is looking like a disaster, take a step back, hive off 5% and do an experiment. The results will AMAZE you!

Update: Drew McLellan has a great post about David Meerman Scott’s upcoming book — The New Rules of Marketing and PR (publishes in June). The potential for PR to "change the game" is significant — especially given the tools that allow us to turn strategy into executions. Of course, the same applies to ANY agency … fun times ahead!