After the cocktail and hors d’oeuvres break, i20’s Agency Shootout sponsored by Klipmart began. In this session three agency executives depicted the future of the advertising industry by addressing three questions:
- How will consumer empowerment continue to increase?
- In what way will advertising be different in 2008?
- What can we do in 2005 to help prepare for the future?
Nancy Hill, Managing Director of BBDO NY, opened by saying "The challenge in the advertising industry has remained the same. How do you get someone’s attention long enough to say what we want to say. Attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, as new technology provides more opportunities for flipping media options."
She continued, "You will only get the consumer's attention, if you deserve it. Prime time equals content worthy of their attention. My prime time equals my content."
Nancy alluded to the need to engage the viewer and showed a compelling example of GE’s Eco-Imagination campaign where the company promotes its commitment to environmental friendliness. In this campaign consumers can plant virtual seeds in the GE website and nurture a flower to life with words. The flower’s growth is directly dependent upon the poems and words that the consumer writes. When the flower is full grown the seeds can be passed along to a friend.
Brad Aaronson took the stage next and said, "The average consumer can see upwards of 3,000 ad impressions a day on TV, radio, newspapers, etc. Advertising effectiveness has been in a decline for years." His solution to break through the clutter, "Don’t be part of it. To be successful, you need to think about having a conversation with customers."
So, what’s working, Brad?
American Idol is. For example, using text messages to keep people on the show engages the audience. By tying Cingular into the voting process, the show allows them to become a contributing and useful part of the event. Brad continued, "Effective advertising is not necessarily about new technology and being flashy. For example, a pizza ad that ran on Saturday afternoon during a Star Trek Movie Marathon was very effective, particularly because you could order the pizza right on TV."
On the Branded Entertainment side, Brad said, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy did it the right way by integrating ads within the body of the content, while The Restaurant with Rocco and American Express did it the wrong way. It’s not about being louder or flashier. It’s about having more value."
Toby Gabriner, President of Carat Interactive, opened the ending of the evening with a series of newspaper clippings that spanned the last decade and reminded us of the amazing sequence of change that the industry has experienced. With the Beatles’ Revolution playing in the background, Toby said, "The line is no more. The notion that there is a below and above the line is gone. Fifty Four Percent of all Internet households are on broadband. Newspaper circulation is worse than it has been in 10 years. Pepsi One is launching a whole new product without using TV at all. If this isn’t a revolution, what is?"
Later, he said, "In 2007, the TV Upfront will teeter and fall apart and a lot more of the pie will be split up (across media) over the next 3-5 years. Engagement will be the currency of the future. Awareness and CPM will be replaced by Engagement and CPE. And, we need to plan for it now."
The evening clearly made one’s mouth water at the opportunity to evoke change and accelerate one’s career.
In the words of Clark Kokich of Avenue A:
" Change = Carnage
Carnage = Opportunity "
eBay, Amazon and Search are the clear winners from the last dotcom run. In five to seven years, we will look back and say, "If I only". Or, what can we do now for our companies, our clients and of course, ourselves to capitalize on this colossal change in the ad business? The window is wide open now but will slowly begin to close.
i20Events’ next conference and dinner party: August 25th in Chicago. If you would like to be a sponsor or you would like to reserve a dinner table for 10, please email tracey.mcglover@i20events.com.
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