The Power of the Internet

As I look back on the past decade I believe the Internet and technology improvements or changes in the business (and personal) world will be what it's most remembered for. The Internet has changed the way business outreach is done completely in the last decade. It has created another outlet for organizations and corporations to advertise in and social media has created a totally new way for them to communicate with their target publics.

A month before the Super Bowl, CBS released that only four TV advertisement placements are still open, but one of the NFL's biggest supporters, PepsiCo, announced that 23 years they are dropping their sponsorship. Pepsi plans to shift its marketing budget to less costly digital venues, such as Facebook and other Internet social networking sites.

This shows just how the Internet is reshaping companies marketing techniques by offering them less expensive ways to convey their messages to customers. It seems that even though Super Bowl ads are made for TV, they aren't traditional television ads. It appears that companies buying Super Bowl ads are using that ad as a starting point to other PR and marketing opportunities. Companies will create their ads with the intention and hope for conversation on the Internet long after the game on ranking sites, blogs, twitter, etc.

In a time of companies slashing jobs and government bailouts to automakers, fearful of criticism for misused financial priorities, the Internet offers much cheaper outreach compared to the Super Bowl advertisements. However, of course this type of publicity is uncontrolled and can turnout negative instead of positive.

This trend in corporate outreach has caused marketing advisers to rethink their game. A read about a small marketing agency in the Twin Cities, Three Deep Marketing, that has mastered the ability to measure online website trafficking. The agency's popularity has really grown because of their success advising small to large companies on how to enhance their online marketing efforts. Their strategy is to figure out what consumers do when they view a company's website. They research and trace where somebody clicks, what they viewed, see if they filled out a form and figure out if they bought anything from the site. From this information they report and advise what a company should do to better utilize their website. I believe this trend will really grow.

The Super Bowl is not in distress to find corporate sponsorship - I don't want you to worry. Since PepsiCo decided to drop out, Korean Automaker Hyundai has moved up (since the networks offer the best placements to loyal sponsors.) Plus, there are still many big name sponsors creating ads for this year such as: Hollywood Studios, Cocoa-Cola, Doritos, Hyundai, Honda and Audi, Internet job sites CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com and Anheuser-Busch. I just believe that the coming decade will bring about many more changes and improvements online which will make it even more important to the business world.