I’ve spotted this guest post over at CopyBlogger.

Written by Bob Hoffman, the author of “The Ad Contrarian,” it takes a very interesting look at how the web has changed (or not) marketing.

“…marketing on the web is evolving very much as marketing on tv evolved - people with stuff yelling at people with money.“

Some of the key points he makes are:

• The web is largely a passive medium for all but the geekelite
• Online marketing happens primarily through search, display or social media
• Search does not make content interactive any more than a library’s indexing system makes books interactive.
• Display ads don’t work. They’re “intrusive, wasteful, and inefficient” - everyone knows this yet it’s still the top revenue stream for many online publishers
• Social Media and “the conversation” - “the average consumer simply does not have the time or the inclination to have conversations with marketers“

I think Bob makes some very valid comments but I think marketing, much like anything else, should best be evaluated in relative terms.

Online media is MORE interactive than traditional media. Print advertising and TV advertising have been “not working” for years, yet advertisers still vote with their adspend.

• Users who search are looking for something. Helping them find it might not be a wholly interactive experience but it certainly does fulfil a marketing function when it associates your brand with the right kind of queries.
• Sometimes users DO click on display ads - especially when you’ve used imagery appropriate to your target market.
• Sometimes consumers DO want to have conversations with brands and their representatives - how you conduct these conversations can shape brand perception.

I think ultimately the point is that us interweb geeks must be careful of drinking our own kool-aid. We must learn to see the weaknesses if we are to maximise the strengths.