Saturday, August 31, 2013

Why Do We Still Have Mass Media?: What Today's Students Can Tell Us About Digital Marketing

Why Do We Still Have Mass Media?

Today's students (at least here at Aurora University) are already sharp and savvy marketers.  Many students in the first week of IMC classes here made the comment, "Why do we still have mass Media?" They didn't understand the reason for mass communication when digital communication has made it possible to interact on an individual level with customers through a wide variety of digital media.

Certainly the students have a point.  While allocation for digital marketing efforts has reached 25% of every ad dollar, consumers are moving more and more to digital media for their purchase decisions.  With 93% of consumers starting their purchase on search engines, the trend toward mobile purchasing and 'showrooming,' it seems that digital media offer opportunities that are more efficient, effective and have a greater chance of reaching the consumer directly.  So why aren't marketers moving more quickly to adopt digital marketing?

One Possible Answer to the Question

Don Schultz, Emeritis Professor at Northwestern's Medill School answers that question in this brief video.  Don suggests that old habits die hard and that marketers do things the way they have always done them.  I recommend watching this brief video and I am interested in your thoughts.  Do you think things will change as we educate the new generation of marketers in new forms of media.  Feel free to comment on this blog, email me at my new email dzahayblatz@aurora.edu or communicate on any of the many forms of social media in which I participate.




It looks like a great beginning to the semester with such insightful questions.  You don't have to convince mean that digital means direct being able to measure our results in a more meaningful way than mass advertising, a.k.a, delayed response.

By the way, welcome to my new Digital Marketing and Analytics Blog.  I opened it in honor of the new Digital Marketing Minor at +Aurora University which will be effective in the 2014-2015 course catalog.

By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on  and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.