Death to Digital!
“Digital is dead.”
So declared Gap CMO Seth Farbman at Ad Age’s Digital Conference. It’s a bold statement, especially at a conference dedicated to a particular type of marketing and advertising - you know, the one that he declared as deceased.
Farbman’s quote, when taken out of context, seems simultaneously silly, foolish, presumptuous, and even telling, considering Gap’s recent downturns. But the words are the words, not the meaning, and it’s here that Farbman is right on the money - with explication, it’s apparent that digital, as a concept in and of itself, is what’s on the way out. See, Farbman has an issue with digital for the sake of digital, social media as social media, Facebook as Facebook, et cetera (and so do I, obviously and ahem, obviously). And he’s right to have issues. As marketers, strategists, and business owners, it’s often enticing to want to be in on the new thing. Let’s ascribe it that ever popular acronym, FOMO, but in this case, it’s sales were missing, not a memory or a meme. Since missing sales is bad - and the ever exploding innovation revolution doesn’t seem to want to slow its roll - the situation becomes ever more dire. ”We need to be on {insert new widget}! If not, we’ll lose customers!” the world cries, and so a new campaign is wrought, a new platform embraced, a new strategy implemented. But it’s a mistake.
As Farbman explains, doing stuff for the sake of doing stuff, for FOMO, is not going to boost sales. More than likely, it will hurt them either directly, through terrible implementation that erodes branding, or indirectly, by making each sale less important due to a host of new costs. And all because businesses continually to believe each new platform equals a new strategy.
Digital is dead not because digital is dead, but because digital isn’t anything different than sticking to your guns, crafting your messaging, and getting involved with your customers: it’s a tool, and not a strategy. Technology can be a powerful thing, but it can only go as far as the human thought process allows it. So die digital, die Facebook, die Twitter, and die {insert new widget}. I know what you really are. And that is not a strategy, a new department, or a missed sale. You’re just a way for me to do what we used to do - connect, message, and interact.
And actually make money. Just like Farbman’s doing for Gap.
-Jacob Davis
