Accusing the ad industry's embracement of technology for being the cause of the downfall of martini-drinking creative geniuses in the ad industry makes for a great story, but the lamenting by those profiled in the article, i.e. those who find themselves without a seat is part sour grapes and part "I'm in the 80-20 Club" mindset...i.e. those that thought punching a clock without being truly relevant was a ticket to that second home in Aspen.
To best frame my observations re: a good snapshot, I should first preface that I speak from perspective of someone who spends considerable time on the fringes of Don Drapper’s Madison Avenue—but only after a more-than 15-minute career within the bowels of Wall Street, where my role as a “exchange floor specialist” had me bringing buyers and sellers together. That role has long since become “electronified” and to a great extent, very specific human tasks associated with that role have been diminished, and in many instances, extinct from human interaction.
As poignantly observed by one creative blogger’s posting
immediately subsequent to the announced merger between Publicis and Omnicom,
the CEO of Omnicom referenced the combination of these two firms akin to
building the next NASDAQ Stock Market; which was actually a somewhat narrow
view of how the advertising industry will likely evolve.
Two of the 2 dozen online comments posted below your website
edition of today’s article—those made by Mssrs. John Hooper and Bill Brown--
were perhaps the most well-thought out.
Notwithstanding the evolution of the global equities
markets, the role of those who provide marketplace insight has remained a
critical component. Buyers responsible for allocating significant capital
remain reliant on trusted relationships, albeit those folks now necessarily
need to be equipped with metadata talking points; but the human relationship
remains paramount.
The buying and selling of highly-commoditized products
obviously lends itself to automation and “AI”. Mid-level ad buyers will
deservedly need to re-tool or seek other roles; much of what they do is better
done via transparent electronic platforms. But, the creation of compelling,
response-inspiring ad content that must not only conform to microscopic-sized
screens or 70-character shout-outs or single images, but actually convert the
viewer into an on-line shopper is, in this opinionator’s opinion, a holy grail
that is still far from the reach of ET, AI or any other form of unearthly
intelligence. The odds of someone introducing an insertable device that prompts
delivering electronic messages to the brain that in turn, causes purchases to
be made, are less slim than any AI will create crisp content that compels a
call to action. Caveat: Simple phrases like “Buy this now, you schmuck! Because
you deserve it!” will still inspire broad brand recall and the consumption of billions
of dollars worth of burgers, cigarettes and booze.
The take-away: much like the way computer algorithms have
become a defacto part of the financial market world of buying and selling, and
much like similar tools and processes since embraced in other industries, the
buying and selling of mid-level advertising placement budgets will be consigned
to computers. The ability to deliver content that (I) creates recall and (ii)
most importantly--converts into consumption within a new “Honey I Shrunk The Kids”
landscape is wear the rubber will meet the road for those neuroscience-induced
lab rats hiding behind quant guru pocket protectors.
Delivering the right ad at
the right time to the right place is as simple as securing an exclusive
sponsorship deal with FB; tell me your story and why I should buy you within a
1 inch square space is not going to happen easily or quickly. And just as
important, bulge bracket buyers—those allocating tens of zillions of dollars
are always going to require a big fat, medium-rare steak..and ideally, front
row seats at the next Knick game. The Advertising King is Dead, Long Live the
King.
P.S. Facebook actually doesn’t seem to have ‘exclusive
sponsorship’ opportunities—such as a flower industry sponsored call to action
that any marketing guru would expect to appear within the same ‘alert
notification’ that’s displayed when your mom, your daughter, your wife,
your girlfriend, your mistress is about to celebrate a birthday or other
occasion. “Today is your mom’s birthday—click here for the Facebook Endorsed
Florist—It’s Low-Priced and High Quality!”… Trust me when I suggest that a
computer can’t come up with that idea and a computer can’t pitch it to the
knuckleheads at FB that think they’ve now got their mojo in mobile.
Jay Berkman
JLC Group
