When you think about it, the promotional side of marketing has always been about attracting attention. Whatever advert you’ve created, press release you’ve written or exhibition stand you’ve designed, you’ve been viewed alongside competitors and you’ve had to stand out from the crowd. Even with items like direct mail, you’ve had to be the most attractive-looking item in your customer’s in-tray.
The problem with the web is that it doesn’t work like this. You’re not put in a row alongside all of your competitors, with the object being to stand out from the crowd. That’s why its the most radical change in marketing which any of us have had to deal with in our careers.
With the web, your website is just ‘out there’ and your job is not to make it stand out, but to be found in the first place. That’s a big difference, and it’s why some very clever people, whose talents are in making things stand out from the crowd, have not been successful since the internet came from nowhere to be the most important thing in marketing.