I don’t know when this started happening, but the digital media industry has been going down a path in which every company is making a pitch that’s takes the following course: crabs in a barrel, transitioning to the dog ate my homework.

To be a little more blunt, companies are now lining up with a digital media value proposition that consists of a “crabs in a barrel” explanation for market development. When pressed, the explanation is akin to “the dog ate my homework.”

Crabs In A Barrel

This explanation is that — because one type of company (crab) crawls out of the barrel — others will follow suit. For example, mobile advertising will be successful, because companies are making money selling display advertising on the web. And because mobile web display advertising has higher click-through rates than the broader web, budgets will shift accordingly. So the mobile advertising crab pulls the online advertising crab back into the barrel and begins a steady climb upward.

The Dog Ate My Homework

It’s fair to say that advertising budgets are relatively fixed at a macro level but that digital advertising products will draw budgets away from more traditional media over time. But it isn’t fair to say that all mobile advertising has to do is to capture 10% of the online advertising marketplace. As an explanation, that’s about as creative as “the dog ate my homework.”

Come on, let’s be reasonable here. Is a 300% lift in click-through rates a truly sustainable proposition? And is the comparison truly between online advertising and mobile advertising? Is that it? Couldn’t mobile advertising draw budgets away from some other type of marketing budget?

And what’s the core value proposition? Why do marketers buy a particular form of digital advertising? And what are their alternatives?

These are the core questions that speak to the issues that marketers deal with each and every day. And until we answer them, we give lame explanations for an industry that deserves better.

Come to think of it, my dog deserves better.