The Year of Unconventional Outreach

How can marketers reach reluctant consumers in this time of media clutter and marketing noise?

They should give up their traditional notions of “command and control” and go with uncontrolled “Unconventional Outreach,” according to The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) President/CEO Bob Liodice.

He defines the Unconventional Outreach trend as word-of-mouth, local events, the blogosphere, and of going online where “it’s happening” to such social networking sites as MySpace, Facebook and Second Life, to name a few. 

His blog lists a number of examples of how brand marketers have “seen the light” and latched onto MySpace, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Burger King, Wendy’s and GE.

And Audi’s “Art of the Heist” was his favorite blend of traditional and unconventional outreach.

Liodice cites several factors driving the growth of unconventional outreach, including the sheer numbers of consumers who can be reached in these channels, the precision and accountability of online marketing, and the need to keep pace with or outperform the competition as more consumers gravitate to unconventional media.

And that, says Liodice, is why marketers need to go where the action is.