Effective local advertising is an elusive animal as we know. The animal that OwnLocal co-founder Jeremy Mims pegs is a cartoon Road Runner — and its nemesis Coyote’s comically unsuccessful attempts to snare it. We’ve all seen it.
And much like Wile E. Coyote, local media companies and startups make the same mistakes repeatedly, with little organizational (or industry-wide) memory. This is in everything from product innovation to daily fundamentals.
“He has something in common with most media companies today,” said Mims. “They have an absolute faith that technology will save them… But they have absolutely no desire to actually understand it.”
This is analagous to Wile E. Coyote’s rocket-fueled hunting methods. And the affliction has caused media companies to miss every tech innovation of the past 25 years that could have transformed their businesses, he says.
How to avoid the affliction is the question. For one, the industry needs to avoid getting enamored by shiny new things (rocket shoes) and focus on the fundamentals. That mostly includes investing in core product quality.
“Everyone wants to dunk a basketball, but no one wants to take the time learn how to dribble,” he said.
See Mim’s presentation in full below, including a Q&A segment with BIA/Kelsey’s Abid Chaudhry.
https://youtu.be/ThMNbMRbdWg
