You know it’s a lucky day when you wind up sharing your lunch table with Ted McConnell, Procter & Gamble’s hypersmart manager of interactive marketing and innovation.
What’s been on Ted’s mind recently? Brands that advertise on social networks. He believe these marketers are looking at short-term metrics to their longer-term detriment. Awareness is spiking for these advertisers, but at the expense of brand equity down the road. Users overwhelmingly regard social network ads as unnecessary and intrusive.
Short term wins. Long term problems. When someone of Ted’s stature raises this as an issue, Facebook, MySpace and their ilk would do well to prick up their ears.