New media still has limited reach

This Advertising Age article summarizes a number of recent studies which say that the majority of people still get most of their news and brand information from traditional sources rather than new media. If you want to reach a wide group of people, don't depend on new media alone, although some online or mobile campaigns generated enough buzz that they get picked up by newspapers, magazines, television, etc.

Advertising Age, 8/20/06 - Marketing Reality Check: Blogs, Pods, RSS: "Consider: According to Jupiter Research, 7% of American adults write blogs and 22% read them; about 8% listen to podcasts and 5% use RSS feeds. According to a separate study by WorkPlace Print Media, 88% of the at-work audience doesn't even know what RSS is. And recent data from word-of-mouth research group Keller Fay indicate 92% of brand conversations were taking place offline -- far more than the commonly assumed rate of 80%.

"'We understand that while they're powerful new tools, the bulk of human interaction is still high-touch rather than high-tech,' said Brad Fay, chief operating officer at Keller Fay."