Advertising as it should be
For a long time I didn’t really like the advertising industry. In my middle school years I developed an opinion of it–superficial, sneaky–that led me to completely disregard it as a career option (which I had been considering because both my parents did it). And I never really thought about it critically again.
But for the last couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to enter this world and the more I learn, the more I seem to enjoy it. What I’m beginning to realize is that what I think is the original point of a good advertising campaign–to present to your potential consumer the great value that your product/service will bring them in the most compelling way–had become somewhat buried underneath the frantic materialism and overconsumption heralded by the information age. Value seemed to become secondary and advertising seemed to be more about manipulation than persuasion.
But maybe it’s taking a turn for the better. People are becoming more informed, more discerning, more demanding. With new and more interactive forms of communication consumers are able to demand more transparency, honesty, engagement and of course, genuine value from products and companies. They can voice their opinions in ways that can significantly impact a company’s reputation (positively or negatively), meaning that their needs and wants can be addressed more efficiently. I think that all of this not only makes for better quality products, but also helps to refocus marketing and advertising efforts on innovative and creative presentations and on providing information that will let the value of the product speak for itself.
And that is as it should be.
Let me know what you think!
(image from http://www.buzzmachine.com)
I’ve been working in interactive advertising for a year and I still don’t like it! I totally agree with you, though. The ad industry needs to go back to its roots. I think that it will take a while for agencies to adapt to how the Web works, instead of adapting the Web to their own campaigns. Right now, a lot of agencies are still concerned with things like click-through rates and user-generated content that applies only to the duration of their campaigns, which last typically only a few months, instead of building websites that go on and on for years. My two cents? Ad agencies need to realize that retaining ‘users’ is more important than merely entertaining them.
Right on. Thanks for your comment, Suffian. A greater emphasis on adding value to products and services should apply not only to campaigns but to the entire experience of a brand or company!