The Media Drop

Thanks to Instapundit for pointing out the article that William Booth of the Washington Post wrote last weekend about something that web surfers have known for years - that marketing through this channel grants a level of “word of mouth” that is beyond anyone’s expectations.

The examples that Mr. Booth covers are a website that offers human cloning - that looks and seems totally 100% real - but isn’t. It’s part of the marketing plan for the upcoming film “Godsend,” that comes out later this week. While this isn’t a new idea at all for those people who spend a lot more time on the ‘Net than reading paper publications, it’s gaining steam. Both Lions Gate Films and New Line Cinema are embracing the idea, and have seemingly realized that the costs are lower and the “bang for the buck” is much more effective. Why wouldn’t you participate in this?

I remember back in 2001 when Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.” was coming out, and websites and a huge amount of “underground” marketing was going on. One website claimed to be a site built by supporters of the “anti-robot” campaign. And if you signed up to hear more about what they offered you, and entered a phone number, you received a telephone call, days later, from a robotic voice threatening your life, saying that they now knew who you were, and that they had manipulated you into believing the site was created by “people like you.” I remember getting the call like a week after I visited the site, and had just sat down on the couch on a Friday night - only to be totally confused by the call. It actually took me an hour or so to search up any other people on the Internet who had received the same calls to confirm my suspicions.

So while you might see advertising in “traditional” media going forward, expect less of it overall and more of a “jump” notion to it - sending you to websites to find out more. And the messages will continue to get more and more cryptic and blend into what you might think are real commercials for real businesses. But just as the article asks - “Will this stuff keep fooling people?” I think so - technology always wins.