File this under “I couldn’t make it up if I tried.”

I sat in on a panel today with so called top marketers in the financial services space who kept referring to banner ads, search etc. as “new media.”

I guess they didn’t get the memo in 1999.

All three CMOs acknowledged they clearly understand how their customers consume media today. They even rattled off all the relevant stats to the crowd. Then someone asked if they had actually changed their marketing spend to match media consumption.

The answer: no. They admitted that they still feel a bit more comfortable with media like TV since it’s still hard to prove out the ROI on “New Media.” Wish I had asked them to explain exactly how they know old media works.

The talk of new media is a tell tale sign someone has no clue about the world we live in and market to. Media is media. It evolves as consumer behavior and media consumption evolve. There has been neither an official date set nor official line drawn that denotes new vs. old. In fact TV, radio, print, search, online ads, and even out of home media have changed and will continue to evolve.

Based on this panel experience I predict a couple of new CMO gigs will soon be open at some major US banks.