After reading numerous articles today I had to close my laptop for a minute. I looked up at a few passing car's.
Is advertising dead?
I needed a second to think about these articles I continually read. I've been reading articles like these for a few years. These articles are intelligent and articulate, written by great industry professionals, and in some cases provide a fairly observant rationale. But they're not pivotal ones and the foundation for these declarations are as transparent as web 2.0 packaging.
[ dramatic introduction over, opening laptop back up ]
Yep. Apparently my career in advertising is over. I'm washed up. A hack. I can't keep up with culture, technology and the earthly innovations of our world. The internet is going to destroy advertising because it leverages, generally speaking, communication and thought almost instantly. It's ok though. I cut grass really well. The A-D-D endearingly associated with my career will only enhance a Class-A grade cut lawn for some lucky yuppie and their spouse. I'm sure their dog will enjoy a less abrasive ass-dragging too. Call me idealistic–it's a fair observation.
Philosophy 101 generally asks a student one a very simple question:
What is the meaning of life?
Hmm. A toughy for a lot of us. Especially since the question in it's current context assumes that we all have the same meaning. And that we're all expecting the same end results. How boring a life that would be!
So, let's examine this question. Seems to me that the question is in two parts.
The division in context occurring between the definition of two words, 1) meaning and 2) life. What is meaning? What is the meaning of your life. I'll let the readers answer this question for yourself. I don't want to stray from my point. But the question does apply to business as well.
Advertising's purpose and meaning/relevance has changed. Everyone will agree, I'm sure. It's not dying. It's definition is no longer restricted to the media outlets once considered the best way to reach a consumer. The experience of being advertised too and creating the advertisement have been redefined. Experience, if it where tangible, is more like a gel or fluid. It's becoming very hard to quantify these experiences. I know, not a profound thought but, it's the application of this thought that has and will continue to redefine communication. As I've said before, advertising is an end result. It has no form.
In my humble experience good relevant advertising is about raw experience. Observation of life and the aggregation of information/experiences in any form. A concept, which is to say, combining information that was previously considered unrelated to create a new one. This is our core product. Simply put, we sell ideas. They've always been intangible and abstract. That's the point. It's a difficult selling proposition for us and most of us complain about it all the time. But this is our product. A select few agencies really embrace this philosophy.
So, is it some sort of mass creative block? The mouse and monitor surpass the remote and the TV and all of a sudden, agencies give up! Some industry professionals are claiming there is no possible way I can communicate something to someone in a unique and relevant manner against the challenges facing today's businesses, utilizing some of the coolest tools ever. Perhaps the title of Creative Director should be switched out for a Conceptual Director. Writers and art directors jobs won't change much in terms of talent and conceptual abilities but they'll be able to do much more on their own. Simply because they're now predisposed to a broader creative arsenal with a strong understanding of there functions. I suspect the team model is becoming geared towards a specific industry or business and it's sister markets. Not necessarily an interactive one but much more specialized and targeted within the interactive environment. Which is ultimately no different then the existing model. The problem here lies within the executives' and middle managers' being able to
manage. Fear, more or less.
Agencies and clients should be scared for one reason and one reason alone; A sucker may be born every day, but the following day they'll be online looking up the definition of a 'sucker.' Big deal. Be honest, create relevancy–problem solved. The merits of product innovation, in any sector, will supersede poor and misleading services and the agencies they work with. Stated this way, I think most creatives would agree and favor this model. Why not? Creative integrity wins. The best product wins. The most relevant message wins. The biggest media budget doesn't count anymore. At least not in it's current model. Outdoor companies don't have the frequency of a will placed banner ad. But that doesn't mean they don't work. It means they have an extension.
So, we're thrust into a time of technology when ideas will succeed themselves because they're better and more innovative! I would love to see the statistics from the 50s that might have gauged the listener transitions from radio to that of viewers for Television. And then I want to see the numbers from the preceding years of newspaper subscribers and readers. Then I want to see the library stats too. Then I want to compare them to the population of that time, the amount of goods and services for that 30-year period. What was considered a consumer favorite, followed by the rate of suckers born–globally, where they came from and where they settled. Ok, I don't want to compare it myself, but hopefully you get my point.
Over a few drinks with an agency owner/friend of mine, we touched-base on this very subject.
After the Patron and grapefruit chaser we discussed what the next big thing in our industry might be. We did come to an answer but then we had a few more shots and I awoke the next day with my wallet missing and a receipt for the shots– typical.
Ok, there was no answer, but just this as a resolution of sorts. One which has been around for years.
Good ideas will succeed. Bad Ideas will fail. Consumers will purchase something when they are interested and feel that there is a true value, viable application and/or general life enhancing benefit. The internet is only forcing clients and agencies alike to create relevancy. Both through product development and the way it's advertised. Create something that has a meaning and purpose. One problem might simply be, as saturated as the market is, everything is pretty damn cool! And a lot of
stuff works really well.
Education of the consumer plays a key role in this. General ignorance of these products and services can be attributed to the late seventies and early eighties. The fear of technology and presumably how hard it is to learn pr master. But what about the non-technology sectors? Are there any?
I think it's funny when people suggest we're a society with A-D-D. That's like an attractive person walking into a social gathering and getting offended when no one looks at them. Today's truth is, everyone did see the person, most all ready made an observation. It's not the consumers fault marketers weren't looking when they did.
The gaming industry is a good example of yet another poor declaration/observation. Look at how kids navigate, play, circumnavigate, and make a lot of quick choices at an extremely high rate. It might be fair to suggest that the gaming environment is reactive vs proactive but that's a superficial observation at best. Kids are developing a new set of decision making processes, and they are all proactive. Clients and agencies alike attribute the A-D-D theory here all the time. I ask this question to the readers, How ironic is this opinion? Considering you found this blog either through a search, a friend, a link or an email. How different is the experience? The interface, the usability of it? More appropriately, how closely related are they? Well, you can't shoot me with the ion-cannon, but you can bookmark it, email it, copy it, pdf it, print it, respond to it and ultimately dismiss it just as quickly as a gamer beats a level-10 boss. And for the most part, why should anyone assume your choice to read this or dismiss it was any less or more rationale then a gamers quick-move-combo. Proablay just as quick too. You probably would have used a short-cut key to close this browser window.
Clients themselves are contributors to this negative declaration. Some clients just don't have the ambition or objectivity to further their brand. Fine. We get it. There are thousands of companies signing deals right now. Our prospective clients with new creative and strategy and a lot more unique media. I wonder what an analysis of clients and industries would look like if we compared the types of businesses and industries that have moved up their respective tiers in the marketplace, to then hire an agency. How long did it take for that industry to believe it needed an agency or to broaden it's
brand presence. What products where they? What services and industries are doing it? Is it a matter of advertising agencies seeking these industries out or vice-versa. I'm sure there is an overall pattern that should ( if it hasn't ) be examined. I think some old creative annuals might give a nice bit of data to review.
Today we are faced with creating a tactile environment for a brand, an experience. At the least, that's what everyone is saying. It's rather ironic in this context. Anytime a consumer is exposed to advertising communications, it's an experience. Print ads are an experience–outdoor, strategic installations, flyers, banner ads, virtual ads in games, reading an article, talking with a friend–is an experience. So I'm going to assume that we are, more or less, talking about the receptive properties of these experiences. Relevancy.
Clients themselves, are becoming outdated. Sorry clients. You don't represent your market nor do you represent their respective opinions. Well, at least not for long. Once the masses get hold of your products and services, it's up to them. That's where strategy and creative come in. Not brute force marketing and a personal propensity to push the consumer into your model. A good vision has clarity at it's focal point, it's the vignetted edges that an agency helps define.
Ideas need to be relevant. Creative will always be needed. It's the experiential qualities of an objective creative agency that generates the right context for a relative consumer experience.
Here are some ideas I look forward to seeing. I don't know if anything like these are development nor do I know what the longevity of these ideas, as media and advertising vehicles might be but, they are ideas. And they can work with a little exploration.
Hyperlinks and Copy WritersI hate google adsense ads. I've seen some integrated nicely into blogs. They look good, a designer's eye applied, crafted with the best possible aesthetic solution. I say, screw them. They still make sites and blogs look poopy. Make all hyper links have hover captions with headlines. Like tool tips. A nice piece of copy that links to either the originally intended link or an AD related to the link. Bloggers would profit nicely. Writers can write. Flash can emulate this rather easily.
UPDATE 1.5.06 I knew someone had to do it. Leave it to an online retailer, and a website actually named trendhunter. How ironic.
The Web Browser and Graphic DesignersI've mentioned this before. I'm not a fan of the dual interface experience. I've messed around with manipulating browser skins with Quicktime and some XML. It's difficult and SWF still runs the roost as far as plugins go. I would like to see companies have the ability to manipulate the browser window with custom navigation that includes the basic buttons of a browser as well as the personal layout and interface of the website. Companies have another branding vehicle–designers continue to enhance the quality of the visual experience.
Pixel PushersThis piggy backs the hover caption idea. A website or blog can
sell a word
( contexual ). For one month, everytime a specific word is used throughout the blog, upon rollover it displays a hoover caption ad for a company or product. ( this one is probably being done all ready)
Interactive, Everybody is doing itAs a former unsuccessful comic book illustrator gone badvertising, I used to fear the loss of print as a communication form as well. One Idea I had was to create interactive CDs with static artwork and user initiated page turns. Slow pans and slide transitions/swipes accompanied with VOs for the characters or a general narrator. All of which could be produced on single computer. The CDs would have music, swag and other fun goodies. You could pause the CD on an image to check the artwork out or print it out. Most illustrators get there start by copying their favorite artists. The same could be said for the writers. Artists have been incorporating their favorite brands and music bands for years into their work, as a fan themselves without corporate sponsorship.
The idea was quickly superseded in style and technique by MTV with the release of the MAXX. Manga had followed this style for years prior too, but I thought a CD would be pretty cool. And a nice transition for readers to make the switch to the online environment overall, with more revenue from different markets. Well, as some might remember, security issues killed the interactive CDs. Flash later killed the concept all together.
Anyhow–my point. Video games online or offline, should have pause functions. Not just save features. Since most of the gaming consoles have online capabilities, a gamer could pause when interested and go directly to the company or product that might be placed within the game. Think of this, most games, when paused, still-frame and ghost-back transparently. While paused, perhaps there are captions for ads placed over a mangled car, a dead villain, a link to the cool soundtrack even that stupid pepsi outdoor board. This would also mean games would need more then a save-feature. They would need a bookmarking/tag feature as well for gamers to return to later or a basic directory to access latter on. This could be unique promotions and sales related to that game.
These games, since they're online could remain open-source some how and frequently updated with ad containers, ( not sure how that would work or how secure that would be ) ads could update with game play or when a user signs back on. Here we're offering relevancy and choice. A nice combo.
Eat-Poop, Consume-Generate, whatever.The issue we face is connectivity. Once we've connected, I have no doubt that the work would be relevant and creative based on the medium it's perceived in. We get what we put into it. We are now accountable for the type of work we produce. The meaning we give it inherently dependent on the immediate consumer response. As advertising always has, it will remain fluid and mirror society and vice-versa.
Happy New Year.
Imagine a brand landscape defined by the individual; the consumer, the prospect, the common surveyor–a marketplace that evolves organically based on consumer interaction and feedback. A company and their agency-both accountable for their products, services and ideas. Knowledge is growing directly in relation to the amount of people contributing to it without regard for social or economical barriers. Language barriers don't exist. Knowledge is systematic growth based on interoperation without ration. Mass communications leveraged by the individual. Products and services rising and falling on their own merits. Someone googles "sucker born everyday," every minute. Advertising talks too much, art requires no explanation and we live in the middle. Create relevancy.
