The real problem with real time marketing

Real-time marketing is one of the hottest trends around, prompting entirely new agency specialists and tactics in the last few years. But it has also proved to be disastrous for several brands and the trend might even be losing some steam.

This is an issue for rich discussion on the latest Marketing Companion podcast and, in fact, Tom Webster and I disagree on the promise and potential of this marketing trend. In our latest episode we discuss …

• Are brands still holding onto old business models because real-time marketing is disruptive
• How real-time marketing (like the Oreo moment) might be “extraordinarily dangerous” for brands — why Tom thinks it is “improv advertising,” and why I think it is something more.
• Can you sustain “clever” as a strategy? When companies like DiGiorno issue tweets that backfire, is brand value erased?
• Can real-time be successful when it creates provocations that lead to awareness and conversations?
• Why a company’s organizational structure may determine whether “real time” works.
• Is real-time marketing a tactic or a strategy?
• Brands responding to each other on Twitter — effective moments, or brands pleasuring each other?
• Seasonal Advertising Disorder — latching on to weird trends to make a brand relevant
• Is real-time marketing about an ad or a relationship? Does this trend help describe why marketing business is coming back in-house?

Are you ready for this? Let’s go!

If you can’t access the podcast above, click on this link to listen to Episode 54

• Click here to download the latest episode or subscribe in iTunes
• Complete Marketing Companion Episode Guide
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners.
• Find the podcast on Stitcher

Important resources mentioned in this episode:

PR News article on real-time marketing

A discussion on several real-time marketing movements, including DiGiorno Pizza

Jerry Seinfeld’s Pop-Tart joke

Post on bringing marketing work inside