Some imitate, others integrate

The beauty of an integrated campaign is not that it spans all media, but that the different elements work together and feed off each other. All the media create a fun family, building on the power of each medium to get a bigger ultimate bang for your buck.

This way of doing advertising only came to South Africa a couple of years ago, and it has taken off to a certain extent, but in many campaigns, the components aren't yet working together to their full potential.

Integrated is experiential

A true integrated campaign is in essence experiential, because it requires action on the part of the viewer or customer. A print ad might lead you to a website which will tell you when to watch television, creating synergy across the media and getting the viewer to really participate in the brand experience. It needs to touch people and to get them to feel and experience on more than one level, calling them to “Action Stations!”

Judging the Loeries this year, I saw many campaigns that spanned different forms of media, but that didn't necessarily create synergy between them. The judges sat up and took notice of those few entries that used each aspect of their campaign to create a buzz across the whole range. Those will, obviously, be the ones that are recognised at the Awards.

Websites increasingly central

With the rise of the digital age, websites as central part of a campaign are becoming more and more popular, because they work and are gaining acceptance from consumers. They are often a crucial part of an integrated campaign.

In South Africa, the Internet is not huge in all sectors of the population, but as it grows, it will be explored more and more. Other media have to push clients to the website if it's central to the campaign.