By my third week of being
tossed into the digital media/marketing/advertising salad, I felt as though I was discovering another language. And it seems it's often either unintentionally scatological or masturbatory in
nature. I found myself in the audience of OMMA Behavioral NY in February listening in on a scintillating panel discussion of "
punching the monkey." Now, I've heard of punching
the clown, and spanking the monkey, but punching the monkey? And why is this fodder for a panel discussion?
Turns out wacky online marketing and advertising types like to refer to peoples'
propensity for "punching the monkey" (how about "kissing Brad Pitt's head on a roach's body," or "kicking Britney Spears into a pit of hissing therapists"?)
meaning an inaccurate snapshot of true online purchase or direct response behavior - or brand loyalty. Instead, for example, they claim the aim should sometimes be to get your audience engaging
emotionally with your brand through virtual worlds. A quick punch at a monkey really yields you nothing in the end - that's what grandma always said.