Advertising in 2020

 

What is in store for advertising now and in the near future? To quote R.E.M., “It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine.”

 

Never has advertising been under more pressure to evolve – both by advertisers and by the consuming public. It is not provocative to suggest that in 2012, print, radio, direct mail and OOH – long traditional advertising staples – face questions regarding their effectiveness if not their outright reasons for being. Most will be on the endangered species list by 2020. And while many are quick to point out that the surging popularity of digital has taken up and will continue to take up the slack, it is not difficult to recognize that what is happening online, on smartphones and on other digital devices, is not your father’s advertising: The evolution taking place is not simply a change of venue but a completely different brand/consumer dynamic with new rules, roles and responsibilities for everyone involved. The GRP, long rumored to be sickly, will soon finally be laid to rest, and the success metric for the new marketing millennium will be nothing short of Shareholder Value (on both sides of the brand table – corporate and consumer).  In fact, if you are an advertiser and have not already transitioned from “how can I compel purchase behavior through communications?” to “how can I leverage the entire media ecosystem to add enduring, differentiating value to and surrounding the product experience?” forget 2020. It may be too late today.

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