Jack Trout in Forbes writes:
First of all, don't panic. The digital, non-traditional media world remains more hype than reality. Marketers still invest over 95% of their budgets in traditional media. There's lots of chatter, but show me the money.
Next, you must realize that a lot of these new media forms aren't very good at storytelling and explaining why you are different from your competitors. Entertaining someone is nice, but selling to them is better. A good 30-second commercial or a print advertisement has always enabled you to lay out a reason to buy your product instead of those of your competitors. The best you can do with many of these new forms is have your name visible while you're entertaining. Such was the case with the silly Burger King-online "Subservient Chicken" program. Where was the reason to go to Burger King and not to McDonalds (nyse: MCD - news - people ) or Wendy's (nyse: WEN - news - people )? The chicken wasn't it.
I necessarily don't agree with Jack. Sure, there is a lot of hype but I think the new media forms will challenge marketers to change the way they tell the story. They need to find new ways to unfold the story. Brands need to be creative when they tell the story on a mobile(SMS, for eg.) or they might say it very differently with a vPod. There are no right answers here as the medium is evolving and no one(not even Jack) can pass a judgement.