Ads will never be the same again
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
And that's because of a device called the iPod; the video iPod to be exact.
Imagine, watching your favourite shows on the iPod. I know, it's a little small and you might go blind; but it would be perfect for traveling. As if TiVo isn't enough, marketers and advertisers have been thrown another curve-ball. Everyone wants to avoid ads, and the video iPod is another avenue for doing that. Pay a little money, download an episode of your favourite show, and viola; a commercial free experience.
How then to reach out to consumers you ask? I say, be relevant, and most importantly; be an Advertainment among advertisments. Cinema Electric defines advertainment as "a form of advertising that is consumed and enjoyed by the consumer as if it were entertainment." Another form of definition calls it 'branded entertainment', or what we call product placements, apparently though; that term (product placement), is so yesterday. [Read the article here on branded entertainment, or advertainment.] To me, advertainment merely means entertaining advertisement. The days of ads screaming, "Sale! 50% off! Buy Now!!!" should be over soon. Ads should be intelligent, engaging, and; entertaining. Elements that would make someone like you and me notice it, among the 43o8475643o6p1 ads out there.
Anyhow, back to the video iPod and what it would do to the advertising industry. It's going to push marketers and advertisers to think of new avenues to advertise. Advertising on TV as the main vehicle looks set to be a thing of the past, something Joseph Jaffe has been talking about. Heck, he even wrote a book about it called "Life After the 30-Second Spot". Marketers and advertisers should have thought about this when Sony launched the PSP. With it's huge screen and beautiful colours, the potential is enormous! Apple merely made it easier with downloads.
Mark my words. Remember this word: Advertainment. It's going to be the next big thing. It's going to have many more definitions and implications for marketers and advertisers. It's going to mean different things to different people, and ads will never be the same again. Hopefully, it will spur advertisers to create more relevant ads, more intellectual ads, more engaging ads; and more entertaining ads.
