12/22/2014
Advertising won’t disappear, trust me. Advertising as we know it, probably will however. Ad blindness is a very real problem for marketers and there’s only one way to prevent it: make ads that people want to watch.
It’s happening already: a lot of major companies are producing ads that are only aired on their youtube channel. Some of which go incredibly viral. Chances are that you’ve seen an Old Spice ad or a video from Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. You didn’t see them on TV, though. You saw them because someone showed them to you or shared them on facebook. It’s a fair trade-off. They get a little brand recognition and you get a few minutes worth of entertainment, a chuckle or two and something you can share with your friends. Those are the ads of the future.
The same principle (make stuff that people want to see) goes for tons of other things like Oreo’s incredible facebook and twitter strategy, Red Bull-organized adrenaline-fueled events, and targeted (therefore interesting) search engine advertising, but virals are more fun to talk about.
Evolution in the advertising world is happening quicker than ever but as long as people have products and services that need selling, advertising will exist. As consumers adapt, advertisers adapt as well. And in today’s world, consumers are adapting every minute. Exciting times.
