Only one question remains. Are you ready?

For many, change is frightening. As the saying goes, “speed thrills, yet kills.” The rate at which things are changing especially in the business world can be frightening, for some, to a paralyzing degree. Attempting to catch up at that speed is next to impossible, after all.

But with change always comes opportunity. No one business or business model can go the way of the dinosaur unless we allow the paralysis caused by fear or denial to be permanent.

Take communication, for instance. Communication will always be a necessary element of doing business, and while media and language may change, there will always be factors in it that are evergreen and will serve you well. The temptation to jump on every bandwagon will be there, but unless your fundamentals are well rooted in sound brand communication principles, you’ll still end up like the businessman who missed the bus.

The trick is not to attempt to catch up, but to adapt. Whether you’re a manufacturer, a retailer, a professional or a service provider, there are ways in which this changing environment can work for you, not against you.

Change brings opportunities. If you need ideas on how to make the most of these opportunities, call or drop us an email. We can help.

The arguments, as they were made, were as follows:

1. Google is too big and expensive

2. Facebook is nicer and costs less.

(THOSE ARGUMENTS WILL ALWAYS MAKE SENSE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES WHERE YOU GOTTA BE NICE AND ALL. REALLY. JUST LOOK AT OUR ELECTIONS.)

3. Facebook doesn’t charge per click, it charges per placement, the same as Yahoo and Bing. Unlike Yahoo and Bing, people stay ON Facebook, all day, so theoretically, your ad is in front of your target market while they’re throwing cows, dishing out meals from a diner, taking care of abandoned farm animals and whatever else they do on Facebook on company time. Not a bad deal for your placement.

4. Add the function of being able to target specific groups, individuals, causes, schools, political beliefs, and create fan pages where people click “likes this” to signify how well your product is doing. Well and good.

Yesterday, I got another email, this time, pro-Google. Again, the arguments also made sense:

1. Google still has more unique visitors per day than Facebook. Facebook’s numbers are all the same people.

2. Facebook still hasn’t figured out what to do with their data in a way that will help you allocate your spending. (I dunno about that, I saw an article about it, there were too many zeros in the figures mentioned that my brain just froze.)

3. When people are about to buy something, and haven’t quite made up their minds on what to buy, they hit Google Search. When people are actively seeking information about a particular product, service or whatever else they are about to spend their money on, they go to Google.

(Makes sense. The only time I’ve seen someone go on Facebook to decide what to buy was when it was a really expensive item that the person had already decided on, and was seeking peer approval in order to rationalize the horrifical unnecessary expense…never mind, I got set off.)

4. You can target people on Google. In fact, you can target them more effectively if your media person knows what he’s doing. It’s called Pay-Per-Click, and the keyword analysis tool is free.

So. Google or Facebook?

The mindset of a person who will be seeing your ad on Google is different from a persom

Advertising-wise, if your product isn’t already on the mind of the customer on the verge of buying, your chance of changing his or her mind with an online ad is much higher in Google than it would be on Facebook. Facebook is a television ad. Google Search is a salesperson racing towards a person holding a product in the category yours is in (and might even be yours) and telling the prospective buyer about what options there are while steering him/her in the category shelf AND THEN positioning your prospective buyer right smack in the middle of where yours is in, while giving him/her your pitch.

Going by the Prodigy Perspectives matrix, Facebook  straddles the line between the PREPARE/PROMOTE grids while Google Search lands squarely in the middle of the PUSH grid.

So there you go: both are equally effective for different objectives and stages of your marketing communications plan.

For more about Prodigy Perspectives and communications that work, email us at info@prodigyads.com.

UP NEXT: Google (Search) Is My Friend, How To Use Facebook for Best Results.

Both are equally effective, depending on your objectives

Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, 4th GHY Winner

Client: Meralco/Gawad Haydee Yorac

Producer: Jeric Marian

Production House: AdFarm

Visit www.meralco.com.ph/gawadhaydeeyorac

for guidelines and nomination forms.

Deadline for entries is January 15, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Agency: ProdigyAds

Production House: Unitel

Director: Jun Reyes

Producer: Jeric Mariano

ProdigyAds launches an exciting new advertising campaign introducing the newest player in children’s multivitamins: Hi-Smart, the official multivitamins of the Jr. NBA. With Zinc, the only mineral clinically proven to increase linear growth in children. Plus Taurine, Lysine and multivitamins for smarts, strength and stamina. From New Marketlink.

The country’s biggest advertising agency (in terms of office space), Prodigy Advertising, Inc.,  elects its new company President, Victor Primo M. Isungga III.

Cool, calm and collecting, er, collected, Chubby brings his twenty years of experience in taking advertising agencies, from startup to success in the shortest time possible.

As with many corporate decisions, timing is crucial.  Now on its third year, Prodigy Advertising’s speed in growth requires the strength and stability Chubby brings, qualities necessary for success in these uncertain times.  Not just for small businesses, but any kind of business, for that matter.

“ If there is anyone out there who doubts that Prodigy Advertising is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of entrepreneurship is alive in our time, who still questions the power of brilliance, hard work and good looks, this is your answer, ”  he says, promising hope and change, like his soul-brother Obama.

Oh wait. More than just change.

After all, he isn’t the Finance guy for nothing.