While not all advertising people could be described as Saints, for those who run ad shops that have remained stuck in the old days, the funeral march is well underway.
Yes, we all know and love Mad Men. But the version of the ad industry that Mad Men presents is long gone. We no longer smoke in the office, most of us don’t have a bar next to our desk, we aren’t all having sex with our non-existent secretaries and we don’t grab 15% commission of everything that moves. No, we don’t do business like they did in Don Draper’s heyday… unless of course the agency you work for or own is planning to become a “used to was” in the very near future.
The new world of advertising is dominated by those who have never lost sight of the simple premise that their very existence is tied to their ability to be their clients eyes and ears on the street and… have found a way to bring them closer to their customers. You can’t do that by sitting around the boardroom sipping single malt or by rushing home the minute the 5 pm bell rings.
The advent of Direct Marketing and the increasing use of data changed our basic understanding of the business in the eighties. But social media appears to be the biggest shift in how we communicate since Gutenburg invented moveable type printing.
Here are a few stats of interest.
• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
• 96% of them have joined a social network
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the US last year have met via social media
• Facebook added 100 million users in 9 months
• If Facebook would be a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest
• 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees
• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices. People update anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
• YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world
• There are over 200,000,000 Blogs.
• 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
If these stats don’t make you stop and think, you should quit your ad job and get a job driving a cab.
The results are in and they are clearly telling us that we can no longer move client product and services based on gut instinct, clever burn lines or TV Spots and Print Ads that are all about our perception of features and benefits. Consumers are much too smart to buy that stuff… and they have the tools at their disposal to get even smarter.
That is not to say TV spots don’t have a place in an overall plan. But the recognition that TV viewing is fragmented and consumers are consuming more time than ever online is a prerequisite for success in today’s marketplace.
Imagine, a meeting between David Ogilvy and Mark Zuckerberg and the discussion that would result. I think you might be surprised to hear Ogilvy say “Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.” That statement I think would make Zuckerberg’s head move like a Bobble Head toy in the rear window of Ogilvy’s Mercedes. Was Ogilvy ahead of his time or were we just not hearing the things that Zuckerberg and others appear to know intuitively?
On that note let’s sum up. If you want to influence consumers you must be part of the conversation they are having. Your challenge is to heighten you listening skills so you understand “the mores of society” and given an opportunity finding something of moment to say. And by that I don’t mean “While Quantities Last”
So whadda ya think…. is social media the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?
Al Graham is a veteran of the advertising wars who once smoked like Mad Men’s Don Draper. He is also a veteran of many social conflict wars and has been actively involved in protesting dumps, airports, expressways and urban sprawl.
