Crossmedia - a panacea?
Cross-media is more than just repeating an idea across different channels. By Petra Dreyfus, Client Service Director and member of the executive board at Wirz Werbung.
Nowadays, almost every product manager or communications manager is telling their agency that the next campaign should be a cross-media campaign. It almost seems as if the prevailing opinion is that a cross-media concept alone guarantees the desired success. But is this really the case?
Of course, we have long known that our target groups are increasingly using several information channels at the same time. And although this does not always happen, it is increasingly happening not only offline, but also online. The conclusion from this therefore seems logical at first glance: cross-media campaigns that optimally combine the offline and online worlds lead to more synergies and therefore more success. Provided that the core target group actually uses the various information channels, this statement is true, at least in theory. But only in theory, because there are more important success factors for a campaign than the fact that it is cross-media per se. These reasons can be divided into three phases:
Phase 1 - Finding ideas. Or - Without a strong idea, cross-media is just media.
The most important reason for a successful campaign has not changed even in the multimedia age and is still the same as it was 50 or 20 years ago: The key is and remains a basic idea that is relevant to the target group and differentiates itself from the market. In the billion-dollar concert of today's advertising, one can sometimes get the feeling that many a mediocre message is spiced up cross-media in order to appear better. Anyone who does this without a real idea is ultimately doing nothing more than throwing their money out of several windows, even with different information channels. In other words: Yes, as a client you should demand cross-media thinking from your agency - but above all you should demand a strong campaign idea that - if it makes sense for the target groups - can be implemented on a wide variety of channels. Today, a really strong idea must function as a creative platform that can be played on and multiplied. Which brings us to the second point.
Phase 2 - Interpretation. Or - cross-media does not mean repetition of an idea.
Another phenomenon that can be seen time and again in advertising: many ideas are convincing in one medium ("the funny poster"), but they run out of steam in a flash when they change channels ("the boring banner"). This is generally due to a misunderstanding of cross-media. It is not simply a matter of repeating an idea across all media, but of interpreting it in a media-appropriate way in all communication channels. A banner - animated and interactive - works quite differently from a poster, just as a website should not be designed like a newspaper page. It is crucial to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the different channels. The online sector has made the possibilities much more differentiated and exciting. Therefore: Entertain your target audience, play with them. Encourage them to take part, provoke their reaction. Or make it part of your campaign, keyword UGC, i.e. "user-generated content". In some successful cross-media campaigns, the actual protagonists can be found in the target group itself.
Phase 3 - Orchestrating. Or - cross-media without a conductor makes noise instead of music.
Imagine an orchestra in which every instrument has the same notes and plays them at the same time. How boring. Unfortunately, this is exactly how many cross-media campaigns are orchestrated. The clever alternative to the parallel synchronization of all channels is called "channel planning". Derived from the idea, it is defined when which communication tools should bring this idea to life. Perhaps an event that generates media coverage and thus specifically addresses a topic is suitable as a prelude to the campaign launch. Then traditional advertising ensures a broad brand-building effect. And online activities multiply or deepen the contacts and the sales-promoting effect of the entire campaign.
Either way, assign different roles to the communication tools and media, coordinate them with each other and let everyone play their part according to a clearly defined deployment plan. Not all at the same time and equally loud. Be the conductor of your cross-media orchestra!
To conclude: the online world opens up numerous additional communication opportunities. And clever combinations of the offline, online and mobile worlds multiply these possibilities many times over. How boring it must have been when we could only choose between television, advertisements and posters! But target groups are not enthusiastic about campaigns because of their cross-media nature. They want to be entertained with relevant content. Therefore, don't judge campaign proposals so much by the degree of cross-media implementation, but be particularly critical of the core idea and the originality of its interpretation in the individual media. Ultimately, the devil is in the detail or, in the case of cross-media, in the implementation of the campaign. This is very complex and requires close professional cooperation between client and agency. Appoint a central office to coordinate and monitor all processes.
Petra Dreyfus, Wirz Advertising
Of course, we have long known that our target groups are increasingly using several information channels at the same time. And although this does not always happen, it is increasingly happening not only offline, but also online. The conclusion from this therefore seems logical at first glance: cross-media campaigns that optimally combine the offline and online worlds lead to more synergies and therefore more success. Provided that the core target group actually uses the various information channels, this statement is true, at least in theory. But only in theory, because there are more important success factors for a campaign than the fact that it is cross-media per se. These reasons can be divided into three phases:
Phase 1 - Finding ideas. Or - Without a strong idea, cross-media is just media.
The most important reason for a successful campaign has not changed even in the multimedia age and is still the same as it was 50 or 20 years ago: The key is and remains a basic idea that is relevant to the target group and differentiates itself from the market. In the billion-dollar concert of today's advertising, one can sometimes get the feeling that many a mediocre message is spiced up cross-media in order to appear better. Anyone who does this without a real idea is ultimately doing nothing more than throwing their money out of several windows, even with different information channels. In other words: Yes, as a client you should demand cross-media thinking from your agency - but above all you should demand a strong campaign idea that - if it makes sense for the target groups - can be implemented on a wide variety of channels. Today, a really strong idea must function as a creative platform that can be played on and multiplied. Which brings us to the second point.
Phase 2 - Interpretation. Or - cross-media does not mean repetition of an idea.
Another phenomenon that can be seen time and again in advertising: many ideas are convincing in one medium ("the funny poster"), but they run out of steam in a flash when they change channels ("the boring banner"). This is generally due to a misunderstanding of cross-media. It is not simply a matter of repeating an idea across all media, but of interpreting it in a media-appropriate way in all communication channels. A banner - animated and interactive - works quite differently from a poster, just as a website should not be designed like a newspaper page. It is crucial to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the different channels. The online sector has made the possibilities much more differentiated and exciting. Therefore: Entertain your target audience, play with them. Encourage them to take part, provoke their reaction. Or make it part of your campaign, keyword UGC, i.e. "user-generated content". In some successful cross-media campaigns, the actual protagonists can be found in the target group itself.
Phase 3 - Orchestrating. Or - cross-media without a conductor makes noise instead of music.
Imagine an orchestra in which every instrument has the same notes and plays them at the same time. How boring. Unfortunately, this is exactly how many cross-media campaigns are orchestrated. The clever alternative to the parallel synchronization of all channels is called "channel planning". Derived from the idea, it is defined when which communication tools should bring this idea to life. Perhaps an event that generates media coverage and thus specifically addresses a topic is suitable as a prelude to the campaign launch. Then traditional advertising ensures a broad brand-building effect. And online activities multiply or deepen the contacts and the sales-promoting effect of the entire campaign.
Either way, assign different roles to the communication tools and media, coordinate them with each other and let everyone play their part according to a clearly defined deployment plan. Not all at the same time and equally loud. Be the conductor of your cross-media orchestra!
To conclude: the online world opens up numerous additional communication opportunities. And clever combinations of the offline, online and mobile worlds multiply these possibilities many times over. How boring it must have been when we could only choose between television, advertisements and posters! But target groups are not enthusiastic about campaigns because of their cross-media nature. They want to be entertained with relevant content. Therefore, don't judge campaign proposals so much by the degree of cross-media implementation, but be particularly critical of the core idea and the originality of its interpretation in the individual media. Ultimately, the devil is in the detail or, in the case of cross-media, in the implementation of the campaign. This is very complex and requires close professional cooperation between client and agency. Appoint a central office to coordinate and monitor all processes.
Petra Dreyfus, Wirz Advertising
In principle, the same criteria apply to cross-media campaigns as to mono-media communication. However, there are important additional conditions:
Requirements for the campaign platform
The core idea must be a viable platform for a wide range of communication tools. A good control question is: Can the idea be told separately from an advertising medium?
Requirements for interpretation
Not as many media as possible, but only those that are relevant to the target group
(e.g. event combined with PR and poster or TV, POS and Internet). The core idea must be interpreted in a media-specific way.
Requirements for the dramaturgy
Cross-media campaigns need a coordinated dramaturgy (in terms of timing and content). The media performance per channel must be above the perception threshold.
