Some brands just "get-it". If you or your clients are still demanding that everything must drive hits to their website with every campaign than they need to wake-up. Advertising to consumers in the digital space has quickly evolved from driving consumers (through media) to destination sites to intersecting consumers with experiences.The best campaigns are no longer about building a flashy microsite then blanketing the world with banner ads, emails and mass CTA's to visit the site (then probably a call to action on the site asking visitors to "fan your brand on Facebook").
The best campaigns create multiple experiences that can be detached and distributed from any touchpoint anywhere. Utility and value are delivered everywhere and through these experiences consumers understand the message that the brand is conveying.
Coca-cola and Unilever announced that they will be dropping their campaign site to focus on delivering value within their targets existing communities.
In short they are trying to add value to the consumers existing digital world, not try to get the consumer to come to theirs.
From New media edge:
Coca-Cola and Unilever are shifting their digital focus away from traditional campaign sites and towards community platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, as social media begins to dictate their marketing activity in 2010.
The FMCG giants are moving away from sites created on a campaign-by-campaign basis in favour of investment in existing communities. While both companies will continue to create campaign sites for certain brands in the immediate future, they have said the long-term future lies with social media on platforms populated by their target consumers.
Coca-Cola will position its official Facebook and YouTube pages as the lead online channels for upcoming international activity for its Coke Zero and Fanta brands, new media age understands.
