Using the traditional TV or newspaper ad as your company’s primary marketing tool just won’t cut it with today’s time-poor, low-attention consumer who demands to be entertained and carefully selects their media consumption.

Generation Y, who account for 4.5m of the population, have grown up in front of the internet and a number of studies show this group enjoy ads as long as they can choose if and when to watch them. According to the author of Generation Y: Thriving (and surviving) with Generation Y at Work, Peter Sheahan, this age group wants to “customise their media the way they customise their coffee”.

As a result, there are companies springing up which are paying people to view ads online. Online marketing firm Pure Profile has a database of 150,000 clients who can choose to keep payments for themselves or donate it to charity.

Next month the group plans to launch a ‘reverse search engine’ to allow marketers to target potential customers according to their profile on the database.

The internet is also a popular medium to refresh a tired brand and generate a buzz around a new product launch. Take for example Mitsubishi, which has been seeing the beauty of the web in the lead up to the unveiling of its flagship new model the 380 (to replace the Magna) in October, using it to interact with customers.

In the past few weeks the group has been conducting a teaser campaign online, directing people to its website to register to receive information about the new car via email. More than 5,000 people signed up in the first three weeks—not bad for a company which last year 80% of consumers in a survey believed would shut down its Australian operations.

Or take Carlton Draught, which launched its epic ad ‘A Very Big Ad’ online at the end of July. The company reported that within less than a week the ad was viewed more than half a million times, as far afield as Germany, India and the UK and also generated widespread mentions on blog sites and on programs including The Footy Show, A Current Affair and Weekend Sunrise. That was before the radio, outdoor and point-of-sale ads had even been launched.

In a world where the internet can now be used to send SMS, mobiles send emails and surf the net and TV is interactive, marketers need to integrate marketing across media to ensure their brand stands out.

Amanda Swinburn is the editor of Professional Marketing magazine.
Email: Amanda.swinburn@reedbusiness.com.au

Founded in May 1905, The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland’s centenary is this year. To celebrate the RACQ gave a free car seat to every baby born in Queensland on its birthday, May 31.

Many of the younger parents may not have been RACQ members as the organisation acknowledges that its membership skew in recent years has been toward older members.