New Trends

Advertising has become much more focused; it’s become a visual shorthand. Ads have less copy. Almost anyone can write pithy headlines, and most advertising agencies are run by creative directors that began as copywriters. In the last couple of years – maybe since September 11 – there’s been a return to core values and the things that matter most.

In the future, I believe advertising will merge with entertainment. The power of the emotional chords entertainment taps into – those strands within each of us – will be combined with more of what Hollywood produces. We’re going to see increased involvement between production companies and agencies, and in the future the brand will become the show: starting with the profusion of product placement and the impact it’s having. Consider the new James Bond picture, for example. It’s extraordinary. And it’s growing; advertising is going to become part of entertainment. Another example is the more than 200 television channels we now have. In the old days it was just three networks, and now half of the cable channels (or more than half) are run without advertising, and they’re commanding extraordinary viewership. If you look at what’s going on at HBO with The Sopranos or Six Feet Under, people are tuning in, and there’s no advertising time. Brands are making their way into the fabric of these shows, primarily through product placement, and this I believe will be the new paradigm in the advertising industry.

In terms of new technology, you can now create your own media center online; you can deliver great experiences, welcome people and have a more intimate relationship with them. But we’re only in the second inning with the Internet. It is an immensely powerful tool, and when broadband becomes the way of life it’s going to open up a lot of doors and give those who otherwise didn’t have huge budgets the opportunity to tell people who they are in a quick, compelling way. That won’t happen for another few years, when people can gain access to high-speed data input through broadband, but it will be extraordinary. It will change the way we live our lives.

Another interesting development is the group of people who have gone under the radar and done street advertising. Using public relations, and for very little money, they have been able to get into the minds of the influencers within various social groups. As a matter of fact, that’s the only way to actually infiltrate some of these really cool groups – through their leaders, and the leaders aren’t going to take something they feel has any sort of mass appeal. They’re going to take something they’ve discovered. They’re going to actually bring it in and adopt it early on, and then it gets played out to the rest of the consumers as it works its way to the multitude.