Good marketers always have one eye toward the future. Cartier is doing just that with its advertising presence on MySpace. Do you think they are going “all ROI” with this effort – calculating the advertising to sales ratio? Nuh uh. They’re planting brands seeds for the future. The best thing about teenagers is they turn into young adults and if the advertising and promotion is handled properly, the kids and young adults on MySpace will become fans and predisposed toward Cartier. When they have some jing, they will buy.
While at McCann-Erickson a few years ago I researched old documents and found something written in the 50s by a staff researcher. The language of the day referred to this forward thinking communication as creating “Relative Sales Conviction.”
Cartier is thinking ahead. But they must use their heads and stay away from creating some goofy viral “send the love” game so they will be taken seriously. They should think about the behaviors kids exhibit at a young age that suggest future success and place ads on those kinds of pages. Behaviors that index high for future earnings are where Cartier wants to be in social media. Peace!