ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

New, classic media can be greater than sum of its parts

By Eric Harber

Wikipedia defines "new media" as "a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century."

And, by and large, new media appears to be replacing "old media" (most recently, the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as well as the Rocky Mountain News, two of the nation's Top 25 newspapers, speaks volumes to the mortality of print media).

Regarding new media and old media, to quote the Facebook relationship status chestnut, "it's complicated."

Common thought has new media as a replacement for old media (think blogs vs. newspapers) or its savior (think subscription-based sites like WSJ.com).

We're looking at this all wrong. For the purpose of this article, rather than call out print, movies and broadcast as "old media," I'd prefer to adapt the moniker Coca Cola used when it brought its venerable, original formula back to market: let's talk about the importance of pairing "new media" and "classic media."

New media should not be exclusive of classic media -- particularly the kinds that still attract more than 230 million daily radio listeners (Radio Advertising Bureau) or puts the average American in front of his or her TV 142 hours a month (Nielsen).

It's also not necessarily the savior for broadcast or print.

New media, when used in tandem with classic media, can create something much greater than the sum of its parts.

Beyond new and old, let's think of it as leveraged media, one that combines the new with the classic for effectiveness and measurability.

And so far, the "new medium" that has shown the quickest, strongest results when leveraged with classic media is mobile.

Arguably the best marketing campaigns are integrated. You know the formula -- consistent message, one medium working in tandem with another, dollars working for you as your audience repeatedly encounters your brand messages.

I'd like to point to two recent examples of well-known yet very different mainstream media "brands" -- the Caped Crusader Batman and the "For Dummies" series of books -- that, in adding new media to its promotional blend, created something much greater than the individual elements of its marketing mix.

This past holiday season, JVC pulled out all the stops to promote the The Dark Knight DVD as a means of selling more blu-ray DVD players.

JVC added mobile (SMS "text to win" campaigns advertised on signage and print ads) to several traditional media (an ad in Rolling Stone, for example), a street event in Times Square and point of purchase materials to generate interest and to build a remarketable database of customers and prospects.

The mobile element provided a response and interaction mechanism and also enabled measurement and assessment of the most effective marketing channel. This produced real-time intelligence and the ability to optimize the marketing mix.

Similarly, the award-winning integrated campaign conducted by Wiley Publishing's "For Dummies" franchise belied its subject matter -- it was anything but stupid. With the goal of reaching the masses and delivering a rich brand experience via mobile to bolster its print products, this leveraged media campaign involved POS, online and mobile.

The company's campaign included the following:

Text: A text-to-win sweepstakes gave consumers a chance to win high-end consumer electronics prizes via SMS, using the keyword "DUMMIES" to reinforce the brand.

All who entered received a rebate for $5 off any Wiley "For Dummies" title. Consumers even had the opportunity to opt-in for future offers and information.

Mobile banner ads: A relatively new element of the mobile marketing mix, these mobile banner ads delivered more than 1.3 million impressions with a call to action and branding familiar to consumers. More importantly, click-through rates were four times as high as those produced by the companion online campaign.

Mobile Web (WAP) site: The "richest" brand execution yielded the "For Dummies" look and feel and gave those interested an easy way to opt-in to receive offers and rebates. The site even featured a store locator as well as a list of the most popular "For Dummies" titles.

In both cases, mobile marketing was used to accentuate an existing, beloved brand.

No one was suggesting that the only way to read "For Dummies" or watch The Dark Knight was on a mobile device. Instead, campaigns were used to drive consumers to the "classic" medium for each brand -- the DVD (yes, in this always-connected, broadband-ubiquitous world, the DVD is approaching "classic" status) or a hard-copy book.

And together, mobile, print ads and POS displays created something greater than the sum of its parts.

Eric Harber is president and chief operating officer at HipCricket.