• by dave.b , Max Kalehoff , December 1, 2005

Last month at the Advertising Research Foundation's "Advertising: What's Next" workshop in New York, I brainstormed with several seasoned media planners and researchers about the very notion of advertising and what it will look like in 2010. One of our more interesting challenges was to identify wildcard scenarios that could dramatically alter advertising, as we know it. The unanimous wildcard? Hold your breath, please... Google.

What would our existence be like if Google continued its march to archive the world's content and information? What if Google provided all the data pipelines by which we distribute and transact our data? And what if Google achieved critical mass in monitoring all our behaviors, media exposures and purchases that occurred through its data pipeline? And so on, and so on.

Among the outspoken executives in this discussion was Bruce Goerlich, executive vice president and director for strategic resources, ZenithOptimedia, one of the leading media-planning and buying agencies. I invited him to briefly step into the world of the Search Insider.

Search Insider: Where does search fit into the world of the media strategist today? Is there a gap between where it is and where it should be?

Goerlich: Media planners are now employing search to hit those times when consumers are actively searching out product attributes or making considered purchases. Planners are not yet employing search to deliver up engaging, entertaining content that draws the consumer in. That will come as the industry figures out how to integrate broadband delivery into search in a consumer-friendly manner. I envision small screens of streaming video being listed in the 'search results' as one possibility. The goal will be to push search beyond 'rational links' to 'emotional depth.'

SI: How is search impacting our existing media and marketing models? What are the most important underlying trends? Is search's evolution changing today what you do as a media planner?

Goerlich: Well I am not a media planner, nor do I play one on TV. I think that search is just one manifestation of the power that is flowing to consumers. Information used to be controlled from central authorities, be they big government or big media. The Web creates a network of free-flowing data, not all of it true, much of it unfiltered. This means that advertisers need to be much more focused on quality, because information about bad products will get out much faster and be much more widespread. Advertisers have always needed to be truthful, but now, untruths will be caught much faster. Of course, not all consumers are on the Web morning, noon and night hunting down miscreant brands, but enough of them are [so] that advertisers must pay attention.

While the weakening of 'information control' can be seen as a negative, it can also be a positive. Think of it in a Zen-like way: by losing control, you gain control. Keeping engaged with what consumers are saying about your brand allows you to react more quickly and to link your brand to what consumers need right now. We need to think of advertising as a dialogue, not as one-way communication.

SI: Is the pay-for-performance model of search impacting the expectations of other media channels? Presuming the answer is yes, what happens to branding and image marketing in such a world?

Goerlich: As noted, I think that the next stage of search should be moving towards a more emotional connection with consumers. A world of rationality is a pretty dry one. In fact, recent studies on cognitive behavior indicate that we make wrong decisions when our emotional facilities are impaired. Brands are joint stories with consumers, not simply a bar of soap. What I do see happening in other media is a focus on actual exposure. In TV this fall we are seeing the first full-scale release of commercial minute ratings. While not perfect, they will help us craft a more accurate picture of what our advertisers get in national TV.

SI: Google often is portrayed as the big disruptive wildcard in advertising and marketing. What might such a scenario look like, and how do you think it would change the notion of advertising?

Goerlich: In the ARF workshops we pondered a 'Google world.' In return for free Web access, Google gets the right to send consumers advertising. Google then starts swallowing content, from TV programs to books. The Web becomes a Google network, where almost all media are available for free, in return for advertising. This means the restoration of the old price-value relationship in media: in return for free media, you get advertising. It would be an ironic turn that the most consumer-enabling medium could become the bastion of a 'push' advertising model. The implications are pretty broad, and we are just starting to think them through.

SI: Generally speaking, is Google today a friend or foe to the marketer and the advertising agency?

Goerlich: I like a world where we have multiple providers of content and advertising time. That means an adequate supply of eyeballs at a good price for our clients. Right now I'm happy that Google is a supplier, and not a monopoly.

SI: What should smart marketers and media strategists be doing to adapt and prepare for a Google wildcard?

Goerlich: One thing that we are focusing on very heavily is holistic media planning, where we are examining the power of all communication options, both above and below the line. As the world changes, we must be neutral and all-encompassing, and look to provide a return on investment for the dollars the advertiser spends.