Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba point out that most of what defines today’s conventional marketing wisdom is derived from E. Jerome McCarthy’s introduction of the 4 P’s in 1960. Product, Placement, Price, and Promotion. That’s a 45 year old model created during the early years of television and decades before the “Information Superhighway” was a dirt road. So, why are so many advertising and marketing agencies still using and pushing this model? Sure, plenty of agencies have electronic marketing (web/email) capabilities, but they continue to use traditional methods of counting impressions and using intrusive advertising as an attempt to get attention. Two possible reasons for this dependency: familiarity and simplicity.

Marketers are already familiar with the standard models. They worked in the past, so they should keep working today and into the future, right? But with the law of diminishing returns, the ubiquity of advertising that used to be its biggest strength is now its most glaring weakness. It is that ubiquity which has invited mute buttons, TiVo, and sattelite radio into the market and brought paper shredders into homes instead of just offices.

The simplicity of “Buy an ad, mark it up 15%.” is tempting as well. A colleague of mine told me she was talking with someone in marketing. He told her, “Media buying is so easy. Anybody can buy media. I don’t even charge my clients for it anymore. Anyone can call the TV or radio station and they set up a schedule for you.” Wrong. They set up a schedule for themselves. Whether or not a markup is involved, the station rep should not be in charge of scheduling media. They can advise, but they are not in charge. Media should be purchased and scheduled as a part of a holistic approach to the market. Unless it works in conjunction with all the other gears of your business, it is unlikely to give a return on its investment.

Jay Conrad Levinson’s national bestseller Guerrilla Marketing entered the scene in the mid ’90s. The term “Guerrilla Marketing” has since become a household name in the business community. It is often attributed though to marketing on the cheap. Something only useful for David as he steps up to Goliath.

With the success of Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Build-A-Bear, et al… and the emergence of the likes of Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell, it seems as if unconventional marketing is on the rise. As traditional advertising continues to struggle in penetrating past TiVo, mute buttons, Do Not Call Registries, and the next big thing to give the public “freedom” from our advertising, is unconventional marketing on the cusp of a breakthrough? Has it already broken through? Or do you still think it is just a fad?