Gareth Kay had a great post today about the ongoing concern over the effectiveness of traditional (namely television) advertising.  The point he makes is that, as the industry scrambles for alternatives to the 30 second spot, they “seem to fall in to the trap of creating more pollution in an attempt to solve the problem of too much pollution.”

Now, I’m still not completely convinced that the 30 second spot is going to disappear.  Something tells me we will have SuperBowl ads, etc. for generations to come.  (I loved the Sprint one with the crime deterrent feature on the phone… but that’s not the point… especially since I just renewed my contract with Verizon anyway.)  I guess I wanted to point out this post because it’s such a great summation of why word of mouth marketing is becoming so important.  Or, in a broader sense, marketing with an actual message.  As we approach critical mass of marketing pollution, the companies who will survive are the ones who realize that it’s not about how many ways they can sneak into our consciousness, it’s about creating a product worth talking about and a message - whether it’s traditional or WOM - that’s worth listening to.

Nothing revolutionary in this post, I know… but I thought it bore repeating.

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