This seems to be one of the hardest issues that we face here at Reynolds DeWalt. The term has actually been around for quite some time, especially in advertising circles. Traditionally it means the use of multiple medias within a campaign. This is a good starting point, but does not tell the entire story.

When we use the term cross-media we are considering two additional items. It is my thought that these are critical factors in moving the discussion into the marketing umbrella from the advertising umbrella (isn’t that another blog posting….. defining these two items).

1)  A cross-media campaign integrates database intelligence to allow the campaign to deliver a better experience and more relevant information.

2)  A cross-media campaign does more than utilize multiple medias, it delivers a consistent experience & entry point across those medias.

Let’s focus on the user experience. Experience can be thought about from the standpoint of a user’s willingness to participate in a cross-media campaign. That is to say just sending a mailer with a PURL (Personalized URL) on it is not enough. However experience can also be thought about from the standpoint of the “richness” of presentation. We will continue to see e-enabled components become more and more prevalent; heck it is already quite common for this to be the launch point (instead of print or mass media). It was exciting to read today about Adobe’s Open Screen Project which will open up Flash to mobile devices! The application of personalized, data-driven programs utilizing Flash to these devices is quite exciting.

So back to the question at hand…… definition. I think the answer is that it is hard to define, but there is an upside! That upside is that the technology today is in such a place that if you can dream it, it can happen.