A recent Wall Street Journal article trumpeted "Advertising’s Brave New World" — it was basically a discussion of the growing influence and expansion of online marketing. No doubt the story was prompted by the recent flurry of acquisitions in the space. Google buying DoubleClick, WPP snatching 24/7 Real Media and Microsoft stunning the ad business by paying an unbelievable $6.1 billion for AQuantive/Avenue-A/Razorfish.

There’s no question that the online advertising industry’s deck has been reshuffled in a big way. But the Journal article still misses the boat regarding the point (or lack thereof) of these recent M&A moves. It is the same problem that has long existed in the advertising business, namely that the focus is almost always on the wrong thing: channels and media, not the actual ideas and content.

Just as a reminder: A channel is simply a means of expression…or, more relevant to the Internet age, a path along which information in the form of electronic signals is passed.  Media represents a means of affecting or conveying something. Both terms are about how and where one delivers information, news, offers, messages, entertainment, ideas, etc. In others words, content.

The preoccupation with the new digital media/channels is really just about the latest (don’t know yet if it’s the greatest) way to get content to those we want to receive it. But, what is really important, and frequently gets short shrift, is the content. I am sorry to say that the advertising profession, the marketers who rely on it, and the journalists who cover it, always seem to put more emphasis on the channels and media than they do on what truly matters — the content and the ideas that drive it. I have never understood this philosophy, and have always disagreed with it.

Instead, I have long been a proponent and practitioner of integrated marketing, which puts the ideas (the strategy) and related content at the center of the entire process. As such, integrated marketing happens at the strategic level. Here’s how it works: First you develop the big idea and the surrounding content, and then you figure out the most efficient and effective channels and media to deliver that content to your intended audiences. In fact, integrated marketing has become known as "idea driven marketing" while the old paradigm of advertising is called "channel" or "media centric marketing." This is also why one of the trendiest terms in this trendiest of businesses is "media neutral" or "channel agnostic." As in, "just like Crispin Porter, we’re totally media neutral, dude." The good news is that clients have discovered the power and effectiveness of the integrated marketing approach and are finally demanding it of their agency partners.

As I said in my previous post (Is Content Still ‘King’?), content is the life blood of integrated marketing. And, at the center of all good content is an idea (hopefully a Big Idea). Too often, however, the quality, relevancy, appropriateness and timeliness of that content is just an afterthought. This is just as true for the marketer looking to sell a product and the agency CD coming up with the creative strategy, as it is for the network or cable programming executive, film studio executive, web publisher, newspaper editor or radio GM. Judging by the abysmal quality of so much of the content flying through the growing array of channels and media today, it’s clear to me that many of the above players are frequently more concerned with the channel pipes than with the content traveling through them.

It’s no wonder that User Generated Content (and one of its leading channels, YouTube) has caught on like a thunderbolt of fresh thinking and creativity in the past year. If we can’t find content that will engage, excite and inform us in this web-centric world, then it’s easier than ever just to take matters in our own hands. (Of course, that is a big reason why I am writing this blog!)

Before we marketers lose even more credibility with the ultimate content consumers, about whom we should always be most concerned, herewith are a few questions to ask when creating content:

• Is it based on a strategic, memorable and differentiated idea, or is it just something to fill the pipe?
• Is it timely, or are you trying to solve a marketing problem from last quarter or even last year?
• Is it truly relevant, or are you just guessing (or hoping)?
• Does it have value, even if it’s just meant to deliver a strategic message through entertainment?
• Be honest with yourself, is it mostly about spin or ego? If so, rethink it immediately.
• Does it educate, excite, enliven and/or enlighten?
• Are you proud of it?

Remember, as a marketer (client or agency), you are primarily in the content creation and delivery business. The delivery part of the equation — the choice of the right channels and media — is very important. But what ultimately matters most is the content. Get that right, and your chances of marketing success are dramatically improved.

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