Fast Company posted an interesting article recently about the end of advertising as we know it. The writer points out 4 basic tips as to how to live in the New World Order that is taking over:
From Fastcocreate.com:
1. From integrated to connected
In the new world, it’s about how well connected you are with the audience and how well you connect the audience themselves.
2. From brand story to people story
In the age of radical transparency and hyperinformed users, people are now more aware of inauthenticity than we have ever been. Bring actual purpose to the world and your customer.
3. From 360 to 365
The scale of an idea should no longer be measured by the size of the surface or the number of media channels it can cove (360). It should instead be measured by its longevity, ambition, and the impact it could have on society (be meaningful 365days)
4. From Media Disruption To Business Invention
Creativity and innovation are about finding unexpected solutions to obvious problems or finding obvious solutions to unexpected problems. We should use our creativity to provide better businesses and solutions rather than constantly trying to disrupt what people are doing. The solution doesn’t necessarily need to be advertising. Why don’t we invest that money into delivering some actual value to our customers or fix our business issues.
Less Blah Blah
As I see it, we can summarize these 4 elements into 1 approach: talk the talk and walk the walk. Yes, you can still communicate the value of your products and what your brand stands for. But own up to it. Act the way you are saying you want your customers to act and feel.
Nike Fuel Band
Nike is asking his customers to just do it. In saying so, they have created a multitude of tools and products (ranging from the Nike fuel band to an integration with Kinect) in delivering actual value for their customers way beyond sports apparel.
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/training/nike-plus-kinect-training
http://www.nike.com/cdp/fuelband/us/en_us/
Andes Beer Teletransporter
Andes Beer understand that its target audience might want to go on a bender and not return home that night. Instead of pushing the ‘drink more beer’ agenda down your throat, Andes is enabling men to stay out longer by avoiding partyblocking girlfriends to drag their sorry ass out of the pub. A futuristic-looking booth transports the user to a car accident scene or a hospital so that the trigger-happy partier can confidentally build that night’s alibi. The idea plays on a human truth and gives actual value to late clubbing men.
Audi Battery Saver App
To demonstrate the start-stop functionality of the new Audi to save the car battery, the ad agency developed an app that replicated this benefit for your phone. A clever way to demonstrate that your brand can pull it off and at the same time deliver value for your customers outside of the car.
http://digiday.com/brands/audis-novel-battery-saving-app/
Duracel? Energizer? Where were you when this happened?
A group of Japanese students got a plane to fly on household batteries. 160 AA batteries did the trick and lifted a 63kg student during a one minute flight.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?page>
Red Bull Stratos
Talk about walking the talk. They definitely have proven to be ballsy when the Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of the stratosphere, free falling for 4 minutes before parachuting it to earth. This was the main talked about campaign at this years Cannes Lions for not entering any of the categories. Proof that the teams working on this idea thought it was not worth putting in an application into Cannes Lions.
In short – don’t just push comms don’t the throat of your audience. Package up that message in a valuable product or campaign that will resonate with them.
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683292/the-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it-and-what-to-do-now
