There’s plenty of experimentation going on in local media at the moment, from pay-walls to blogger recruiting drives and everyone asking how to make money from it all, whatever the answer is.
So far, I’ve not seen anything that really gives me confidence that anyone has that answer. It strikes me though that when the answer does rear it’s minted head, plenty of people will find themselves being kicked by their own feet or slapping their head and saying, “well duh, of course!”
Maybe.
Seriously, though, is it really that hard? As ever, Rick Waghorn has reminded us why he’s one to watch in this space.
The City Council has a strong policy on anti-social behaviour; it has a ‘Vision for 2025′ to make Sunderland the most ‘liveable city in the UK’.
Therefore, the ‘messages’ contained within this page…
… ought to have a banner ad in it. Here’s the hot-line number to help us crackdown on anti-social behavior, etc…
… and it also ought to be worth £10 a month of any council’s money to deliver that ‘message’ into the precise communities that need it most, in this case the good people on the banks of the Wear that are starting to warm to Josh’s SR2blog.com
Yet as good as Rick’s thinking is, I find myself screaming out, “Why has no-one done this yet? It’s so simple!” Because, really the council should already be trying to do this, existing local media should already be asking themselves how they can help advertisers, like the council, better target their ads.
There’s huge value to the advertiser in what Rick suggests, and that’s something advertisers worth their salt will be willing to pay for. Any decent marketer knows that less wastage thanks to improved targeting makes for higher return on advertising spend.
Is it really that simple, or am I not giving Rick, advertisers and existing media enough credit?
