And don't you feel used?

In the Dec 11-25 issue, Brandweek published their votes for this years “Best and Worst Marketing Ideas for 2006.” Despite the hodgepodge of successful and not so successful marketing moves executed this past year, I was most intrigued by Brandweek’s “Best Question to Ask a CMO.”

Do you feel used?

As the advertising industry makes it slow and steady shift away from traditional media and towards interactive, companies are pouring their marketing budgets on hotter and hotter features for their websites. Despite increased traffic, $$ from advertisers, and loads of customer data, there is a negative side to this pretty picture. It lies in the fact that there is no easy way to measure the relationship between online traffic and in-store sales.

So while it is safe to sit back and assume that the crowd in your store is the same group of people surfing your site when sales are good, what about when they take a turn for the worse? Your store is empty, but people are still online using your free features. You’ve got a free-rider problem.

Brandweek’s article suggests that Chief Marketing Officers have been hopping on the bandwagon to build the best websites. By using tactics that aren’t proven to increase sales, are CMO's changing the business models of the companies they work for? Will a strong online presence convert store sales to ad $$? What actions should these companies take to ensure their online users don’t just run off to Wal-Mart to buy the product they just research on your site?

-Nadia Schwartz