The following assignment was submitted by Donald Philyaw for the media unit of my graduate Advertising & Promotion class (MKTG 6752).
Describing the state of the media and anticipating changes likely in the next five to ten years is a difficult task. Advertisers and agencies today face challenges that, in my opinion, are more daunting than they have ever encountered. Media planners must recommend a mix of media vehicles that will be relevant over the course of a campaign. This is not easy with social media where the only constant is change that comes at the speed of thought. So, predicting the impact of digital and social media over the next five years is tough. To start, let’s look back to see how the industry has evolved to get to where we are now.
Evolution Caused by Television
Art & Copy describes the evolution of the creative forces within agencies and details how those agencies worked in the past. The key word here is past. The movie, released in 2009 features stories of how great campaigns were created and executed. According to Mary Wells, television was the force that allowed agencies to “do big dramatic things” (Pray, 2009). As televisions became available in every household, advertising moved to the new vehicle that held an increasingly strong grip on the attentions of consumers. Television was the evolutionary force of the 1950s through the early 1980s. During those years, television consisted of three networks and, as a result, families chose one of three shows to watch at a particular time and day. Media planners could establish a focused mix of print, signage and the three channels on television. Those were simpler times that no longer exist.
In the 1980s, cable television expanded the number of programs available to viewers exponentially. Some of the channels, like the paid premium channels, had no advertising, but took viewers away from the commercial channels. As viewers sought commercial free channels, broadcasters reduced the actual programming time in a one show from 51 minutes in the 1960s to around 42 minutes today (Television Advertisement, 2012). This increase in advertising opportunities has further driven away viewers and created the practice of recording a show to watch it later while skipping over the commercials. Faced with a dilution of message, advertisers and media planners adapted to this minor evolutionary change.
Digital Evolution
Describing the digital and social media evolution’s impact on advertisers and media planners is difficult because we are in the middle of it. It is like a dinosaur trying to explain the evolutionary process that eventually led to extinction of their kind. The dinosaur just knows that it’s getting colder and he wants to head south. Speaking of dinosaurs, just three years ago, the most technically advanced cell phone or personal data assistant was a Blackberry. Laptop computers were replacing the older desktops. Now smartphones and iPads are challenging laptops. The hot trend of the moment may be the dinosaur tomorrow. The rate of change is astounding. In this changing landscape, advertisers and media planners must find the vehicles to get the reach needed for their product.
The development of digital technology has fueled the current evolution by putting the choice of content directly into the hands of consumers. This means many consumers do not watch broadcast television. They may simply stream content that is interesting to them. By selecting and choosing what to view, consumers create their own channels and consume information when and where they want it, with or without commercials. To advertise in a medium where viewers choose, advertisers must capture attention and hold it. More than ever before, the message must be relevant to the consumer.
All forms of advertising are impacted in this evolution. Digital billboards change electronically as often as needed to capture the attention of a driver who is probably texting, reading emails or talking on the smart phone while driving. Periodicals like the Wall Street Journal are delivered digitally and have replaced printed magazines and newspapers (Choney, 2012), Grocery stores print coupons specifically targeted toward a customer’s buying habits and hand them to the customer at check out. Point of purchase promotions are aided by product pricing that is shown on the shelf, not on the package. Stores can add some signage and change the price within the system very quickly. Every form of advertising has changed in some way.
Creativity, normally the domain of the advertising agencies, is being challenged by the rise in user-generated, peer-delivered content seen on sites like YouTube (Major Changes for Advertising, 2011). Some amateur ads have made their way onto the Super Bowl, once the hallowed ground for large budgets and clever agencies. Challenging the tradition that advertising is paid for, a lot of advertising in social media is free (Tuten, 2008). Look for this trend to continue. The agencies are not the only source of creative talent and consumers may develop good, free advertisements.
Advertisers are taking a more active role in the control of advertising placement and budget. Agencies have controlled the purchasing of media in the past. Some social media does not require the huge expense that a television blitz may have cost in the past. GM centralized its advertising purchases in recent years and brought the activity in house. Recently GM announced a centralization of Chevy’s global advertising into a joint venture between two large agencies, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and McCann, Erickson Worldwide (Services, 2012). The savings of over $2 billion dollars by GM is money that once went to advertising agencies. Removing the budget for ad placement and then negotiating creativity costs downward spells big problems for agencies.
Social media favors a more direct and real-time interaction between advertisers and consumers. Consumers initiate this communication as they seek information at the time, place and method of their choosing. Permission based marketing places an increasing emphasis on the marketing department understanding and developing a relationship with customers. Agencies have a reduced role in this relationship.
Evolutionary Future
Predicting the future three years from now is as hard as predicting the current impact of digital and social media would have been three years ago. My best predictions (as a part time futurist and occasional dinosaur) include extensions on what is happening today. Consumers will determine the time, location and method of consuming information and entertainment. Commercial networks will continue to be forced to evolve and getting advertising reach will be more complicated than ever. Stunning creativity from ad agencies will migrate toward cunning creativity from fellow consumers. Consumer reviews and praise will affect brands more than clever agency constructs.
Brand meaning and relationship will continue to adapt to the requirements of the consumer, leading companies to understand buying behavior as never before. Consumers, advertisers, agencies and sellers are all evolving. Those who move slowly will go the way of the dinosaur.
Works Cited
Major Changes for Advertising. (2011, February 24). Retrieved from Huddle Producitons: http://www.huddleproductions.
Advertising Media Planning: A Primer. (2012, March 28). Retrieved from AdMedia: www.admedia.org
Television Advertisement. (2012, March 30). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Choney, S. (2012, March 28). Online news readership overtakes newspapers . Retrieved from Technolog, MSNBC: http://www.technolog.msnbc.
Pray, D. (Director). (2009). Art & Copy [Motion Picture].
Services, C. N. (2012, March 28). GM centralizes global advertising for Chevrolet. Retrieved from San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
Tuten, T. (2008). Advertising 2.0. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
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