Online Schools Help Boost Print Media Comeback

New Year's dieters should not look to Kraft for support with their resolution. The company recently launched a scratch n' sniff ad campaign with scents of cinnamon coffee, cherry Jell-o, white chocolate, and most sadistic of all, strawberry cheesecake. Scented ads represent the marketing world's latest attempt to catch the eye--or in this case, the nose--of the consumer.

Business School Skill: Saturation Marketing

Kraft's advertising campaign proves that not all new developments in marketing technology are all online. Of course, scented ads are nothing new: perfume advertisers have been knocking out magazine subscribers for years. But new technology has produced a more subtle scratch n' sniff page. The printer embeds the scent in microscopic capsules, applying it to the page as a layer of varnish. The effect is a gently wafting aroma.

Online Business Schools Remember Print

Business school professor Pam Scholder Ellen explains that scents "can be a powerful advertising tool because they transport people out of their current state into a more desirable state." Ellen teaches students how advertising messages affect consumer perception and behavior, both online and in print. In an age of sensory overload, companies rely on business school graduates "to come up with creative ways to interact with consumers," says Kraft's media buyer Gary Gruneberg.

Online business schools may have grown up with digital media marketing, but the best programs do not neglect the industry's print media roots. Magazine advertising expenditure still outpaces online advertising by roughly $1 billion, reports The Wall Street Journal. Even Google has announced plans to apply its auction-driven sales model to "old media" such as print and television advertising.

If you're headed for a career in marketing, look for an online business school with a broad curriculum. A great site design might lure visitors, but it's no match for the smell of freshly baked cookies--even if it's wafting from the pages of a magazine.

Sources

The Wall Street Journal Online
AutomotiveDigest.com