The advent of digital technologies is making the return on investment (ROI) of every element of the advertising and marketing ecosystem measurable. This is arguably the key culprit for the shuffled roles of various channels of advertising. Performance marketing rose to playing the lead overnight for its ability to produce real time evidence of returns in addition to the facility for real time iteration to optimise resources. Social media channels by virtue of already being within the digital ecosystem were able to improvise and deliver without a protest too.
Trouble only brewed in traditional mass advertising channels. Change is hardest to process for the ones at a clear advantage in the existing system. The best or worst part about change, depending on your status in the existing cast is that it disrupts the status quo. Mass advertising companies were/are not quite ready to let go of the glory of being the channel that set the tone of the show, which every other channel pretty much played along to. Back then, the most impactful medium was television. This, despite the fact that there was no precise way of isolating the impact of a brand campaign run on TV from the impact of point of sale (POS) materiel and on-ground events, pricing, promotions and distribution etc. TVC makers shared the credit when business goals were met but also the blame when business goals were unmet.
When it comes to mass advertising, in an ad-avoidant world where mass advertising is in a hopeless battle against an audience waiting to skip the ad when possible, we will have to rely more on what was probably the earliest form of mass advertising. If you see an ad outside of your home (and it’s not on your mobile), then you are most likely looking at some kind of OOH ad. The relevance of outdoors as a medium, unlike other mass mediums, remains strong. Today, OOH offers marketers a combination of the traditional benefits of the real world allowing you to target strategic catchments and technological features. This opens an exciting new world of possibilities to connect and engage with customers when they are outdoors, with the added bonus of measurability and accountability.
The future of any industry today is being driven by digital transformation and innovations to suit the new ecosystem. The advertising and marketing domain too is being empowered with the facility to make available a brand, product or service to the precise audience that is seeking them when they seek them in whatever form it is being sought. Strategic thinking then becomes about how to analyse data to cater to the needs of those customers who are seeking us or someone like us at any given moment in real time. We live in times where every CTA (call to action) opportunity is also the POP (point of purchase) as you can typically order for anything on your mobile phone in real time. We need to take cognisance of these realities in our marketing approach. Audience insights are no longer for identifying how our product can resolve a tension point but more about where they are, what they are doing and when and in what form they will need us.
These spell out exciting times ahead where science and analysis leaning brains need to hone their creative, innovative faculties and the ones with creative leaning brains need to hone their analytic faculties. The future demands data informed creativity and innovation with precisely measurable results.
Digitisation not only helps us in measuring ROI, but also with collecting audience data helping us be more ‘audience aware’ in our strategies. Consequently allowing for hyper personalised advertising. Ads are consumed by individuals rather than as a mass audience. Each of us is being addressed through multiple channels. This is fuelled by the customer demand to be able to access brands on the go, in helpful and relevant ways. Advertisements can do away with or at least minimise on being a compelling interruption in the lives of people. The role of advertising has moved from being ‘persuasion’ to ‘ready assistance’ whenever and however needed.
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