Are We Facing The End Of Advertising As We Know It

Are we facing the end of advertising

as we know it?...

T

he dominant form of advertising used by the majority of companies in most countries appears to be that of the advertising format developed by practitioners in the West during the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the 21st century, are things radically different?

The communication industry is itself, not only on a national but also on a global scale, undergoing great changes, currently being that these changes are the challenge that advertisers face.

The most important reason in this changing world of advertising is the Internet, which has turned into a dominant social medium, calling into question many of the principles on which traditional advertising is based.

“Whereas “old media” cast content at the center, new media is about the user, giving them control of what they digest and how they digest it. In the new media universe, organized chaos is the rule and conversations are the kingdomÐ'Ò'Ð'Ò' (Vogt & Knapman, 2007).

The World Wide Web has also played an important role in the economyÐ'Ò's globalization, with the increase of the competition all over the world as a consequence of that process, and converting traditional marketing is not only less effective, but also more expensive.

As a consequence, an explosion of advertising methods has taken place, causing some fear in advertising managers about the unknown.

This fear and other events, like the overload of information faced by the audience or the need of connectivity that people appear to have, make the traditional method of word of mouth - which is characterized by its checked efficiency - as the new strategy for informing and persuading customers. According to Dr. Gregory Nylasy, a professor from the University of Georgia, it looks like the hope and one of the guiding lights (Kirby & Marsden, 2006).

CHANGES & REMAINS

Regarding the advertising content, the variety has increased, it being richer in entertainment aspects and appealing to emotional and social aims (Tellis & Ambler, 2007). It is also important to bear in mind the bigger role that it is playing on the regulation of guarding consumers from marketing communications practices perceived as unfair and deceptive (Clow & Baack, 2004).

In relation to the audience and taking into account the situation of information overload, people are becoming impervious to publicity impacts and ``adavoidersÐ'Ò'Ð'Ò' (Tesch, 2006).

Furthermore, in view of an audience that is dividing into many and distinct groups, the big challenge for marketers is how to connect with them (Berger, 2001). Without forgetting that consumers are not easy to please, it is a great challenge to interest them in the message as well.

However, the big transformation is taking place in communication, specifically in the dialogue between advertisers and customers. At one point, almost all the messages were one-way: from the companies to the audience. Currently, this is turning into a two-way communication thanks to interactive marketing on the Internet. On one hand, it allows marketers to know on a higher level of depth their target; offering what the consumers really want and need from them, and this has become more effective than focus-group (Berger, 2001).

On the other hand, it causes several drawbacks for marketers. The main one is the issue of privacy, although the cost also takes importance as a result of the impossibility of spreading only one message to millions of people.

To end this section an intriguing thought is that advertising could be returning to its beginnings when it was seen more as a science until Bill Bernbach thought of the idea to change advertising into an art:

"I warn you against believing that advertising is a science." -- Bill Bernbach (www.adage.com)

The thought that is leaning toward the attraction of interactive marketing is the precision that it provides in the advertising measurement: the response to words or images, although it does not offer much in the way of creativity.

The whole complexity entailed by these changes is getting even bigger due to the fragmentation in media and agencies.

However, despite such a string of changes, informing and persuading remain its essence.

THE DEATH OF ADVERTISING

Although some people may disagree with thoughts about the death of advertising, all the changes occurring in the industry are a fact. Advertising adapts to current culture, pressures, and conditions (Tellis & Amble, 2007).

Concerning the death of advertising, it cannot be foretold that this will or will not happen among other things, because information about products, services and brands will always be needed; and even in the case that marketers used only the internet as a way to inform people, something will have to motivate people to use the websites. Furthermore, advertising is one of the pistons that drive the global economy (Berger, 2001).

The special attention taken by the Internet (Figure 1) is similar to the one given to TV, radio, etc. at their own introductions; it also will not cause the death of old media.

According to the KivivjarvÐ'Ò's study (www.poynter.org) alternative media advertising, which includes the internet as a one of the most important components, is growing four times faster than traditional media advertising. However, despite its less importance currently, it possesses specific characteristics that satisfy different audience needs. As Tellis and Ambler (2007) pointed out,

``old media adapt to and largely survive in partnership with new mediumÐ'Ò'Ð'Ò'.

What will happen is that the line between traditional and digital will get blurry.

However, a reality is that advertisers and agencies should use the Internet as more of a communication strategy, taking into account the time spent by consumers in it.

Could it be the end of advertising as we know it?

Some barriers impede the jump to a completely new advertising.

However,