The Anatomy of a Cross-Media Campaign

The ins and outs of a cross-media campaign

Legend has it, actually Wikipedia claims, one of the first successful cross-media marketing campaigns centered around disco.

According to the site, the first notable occurrence of cross-media marketing occurred in 1977 with the release of the film "Saturday Night Fever" and its soundtrack. The single "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees was originally meant to be recorded by Yvonne Elliman for an unrelated album, but it was decided by RSO Records to have the Bee Gees record it and released in an effort to promote the film. The film's release ended up promoting the single and the entire soundtrack.

Well, cross-media campaigns have come a long way since the Bee Gees. Campaigns have gotten much more sophisticated during the last 30-plus years with the help of technology. Understanding cross-media campaigns is the first step to building one and eventually making one work.

A cross-media campaign combines print, e-mail, the Web, personalized URLs (PURLs), QR codes, mobile and/or social media on a one-to-one basis and provides multiple opportunities to reach every recipient. It delivers relevant content and a call to action through multiple channels simultaneously as an integrated campaign. This type of marketing can be very helpful because it can provide a company or organization with an increased return on investment (ROI), more opportunities to interact with audiences, greater response rates and the ability to view customer responses and create a database in real time. The key elements of any well-integrated campaign are audience, media and message. The best channels to use vary depending on audience demographics and the campaign message.

James Michelson, founder and principal at Indianapolis-based JFM Concepts and author of "Cross Media Marketing 101: The concise guide to surviving in the C-Suite," followed this by saying, cross-media campaigns are really nothing new.

"Marketers have been issuing the same message on multiple channels since the inception of mass marketing. Coordinated TV, radio and print ads are nothing new. What makes a campaign become cross-media or cross-channel is how the responses are funneled into a single data collection point, either systematically or manually, to generate a dialog with the prospect.

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