TEA TIME WITH MORRY

How would you evolve the state of advertising to be successful in the year 2020?

This was one of the questions asked in the application for Miami Ad School. Here’s my response:

I believe that the state of advertising will not inherently change. The process in which ads are made will remain the same and how the ads are distributed, through the known formats such as outdoor, television, radio, will equally remain unchanged. However, where I think advertising should really evolve lies in the delivery of the ad.

With the exponential growth of technology there has been increased data collection on consumers, for example, tracking viewing habits or pulling Google search data for Facebook advertising. I believe that the state of advertising will primarily evolve around this factor, where advertisers will have the opportunity to create more relevant ads and content for customers who will receive more highly tailored ads in real-time.

Due to the information-rich culture that we now live in, consumers expect brands to know more about them and be smarter when trying to target them. I believe that advertisers will slowly move away from bombarding consumers with products they do not need and will instead serve the consumer with the information they need to make smarter and more cost-efficient purchases on products they actually want.

The more detailed the information collected on someone, the more efficient ads can be when targeting a select group of people - or individuals by the year 2020. With increased efficiency, advertisers will be able to spend more time personalizing ads for the individual, creating more of a transparent, two-way dialogue between the brand and the consumer. The ability to talk one-to-one with a brand will become a norm, and by 2020, two people watching the same channel will not see the same ad when it comes to the commercial break, even if they are neighbors.

Currently, marketers are striving to solve how advertising can become successful on mobile. By 2020, I believe that mobile will be the major influencer in consumer spending. On-the-go mobile advertising will be able to influence purchasing decisions in specific locations when a consumer is near his or her favorite store.

With the continued evolution of mobile, Google Glasses may even play a considerable role. Enhanced mobile solutions and more effective data collection could culminate in augmented reality billboards, where the billboard is uniquely tailored to each individual walking by. Imagine if Nike had a branded augmented reality board with their logo in the middle. Surrounding the logo would feature items tailored to your workout habits, what you have recently searched for on their website, a small television spot, or even remind you how many fuel points you have without having to check your FuelBand, or FuelWatch?

What I believe to be key in the evolution of advertising is relevancy. Currently, the most influential person when it comes to purchasing decisions are your friends. I can imagine a day when brands have such a close dialogue with their customers that the same amount of trust can be given to them.

Jawbone…nooooooo

So this happened. It was during a night time footy game and I really couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Nothing in particular happened, someone just grabbed my wrist. I swear the light wasn’t turning on when I first checked it but after giving it a twist or two it started blinking again. I can only imagine what’s going on inside or what part I damaged. 

But the best thing is IT STILL WORKS. Hats off to the Jawbone crew, but then again, it’s still broken (kinda).

Dove critics, shut it.

After watching the latest ‘sketch’ spot from Dove, I came across an article that was essentially a culmination of all the criticisms it had received on the internet. Glad to see we’re all playing friendly. Anyway, I got pretty aggravated by some of the comments and wanted to quickly bang out my own points and quell some of the critics.

By the way, some of the critics are actually those who like the ad, but on reflection, see issues with it when putting it under a lens, a high powered one at that. In my opinion, those who dislike the ad are being way too critical on topics that span horizons far past that of the ad, but I’ll let you decide.

One criticism was that women were being blamed for their own insecurities, and not society as it rightly should’ve. Great point. Never heard that one before. I mean for God’s sake, haven’t we all heard this a million times being applied to any type of ad that deals with beauty? Of course we can always blame society for creating our insecurities, we live in it, but more importantly, we fuel it! We glance up at the perfect models we see on billboards and secretly say to ourselves “fuck you”, but guess what, we then walk into the nearest H&M and hand over our credit cards. You simply cannot play the ‘society makes us feel ugly’ card because of course it does, and it always will. We as individuals have to learn how to grow thicker skins because this dynamic is not changing any time soon.

Another criticism is that Unilever is being hypocritical for creating these ads that discuss beauty, while also creating spots for Axe that idolize women. That’s fair though and I’m not going to disagree with that. But I do have to point out that advertising is a business and one that doesn’t differ from any other industry. Unilever is simply doing what is best for both of it’s respective brands. Sure, it’s sending out two different messages, but for someone to say that Unilever is being hypocritical, c’mon! They’re a goddam business, and you know what comes first? Money. I’m not going to sit here and defend the people in charge as being good people, I’m sure they are and it’s not my place to make that judgement. But people have to understand that this business does not have a personality that you can compare with a person. Each of it’s brands has to send out their own message regardless of who owns them. How can people not see this?

Is it getting hot in here or what?! I could go on and on about some of the arguments people have put up but it’s getting late (and sweaty). So without further ado, I’m off to grab my Axe and call it a night.

P.s. The ad currently has over 34 million views. I think it did a good job.   

We weren’t born adults…

I met with someone a couple of weeks ago who was honestly a breath of fresh air among the smoggy socialite types you find plaguing New York. I’m not going to tell you the name, and quite rightly I shouldn’t, but I’ll let you know why I haven’t a little later.

Being the nervous wreck that I am, I began filling my mind with self-doubt as per usual the hour before I meet with someone important. I find that I worry too much about what the outcome will be, and then proceed to worry about the fact that I’m worrying too much, and so on. In the end I’m just playing mind games with myself, but don’t worry, I’ve gotten better. 

It’s always disconcerting when you have an appointment but there’s no one there to greet you. But alas, I was not to be trifled and continued to trench my way past the fort-like cubicles that mapped the route to my appointment.

I get to the office and find the person talking on the phone. “Nice, interrupting work”, I thought to myself, but she kindly invited me in. We very casually entered general conversation about career choice, path, goals - all the usual stuff. But then we got talking about the shit that actually matters. I got to know about her feelings when she was my age, the excitement, the unknown, the sense of pressure to get going now! I learnt that I wasn’t alone in feeling this way, something that had slowly been prodding me harder in the back. It was all encouragement, and in the midst of a wave of uncertainty, it was definitely what I needed.

My point here is that this person could relate to me. They hadn’t forgotten that having views of Central Park didn’t come as standard office perks, and that pressing a button on your desk suddenly produced an intern waiting for your beck and call. They remembered the ever-constant response of “no” and could see that I was trying to pave my own path just as they had laid theirs.

In stark contrast to this, I had previously met with someone who I would describe as somewhat narcissistic. They had apparently forgotten what it was like to start anew, and the conversation turned from a meet and greet into - how can I say this - a biographical rant. I heard about their successes, what they had done, who they had met. This is why I choose not to mention names, but in all fairness, I would never do so without their consent. It’s my way of remembering ‘it’s not who you know, it’s who you are’. But anyway, I was reminded to do just as they had done - work hard and to get going. Well, no shit. I’m trying to figure out my life just as much as they’re trying to organize their week’s schedule, but in my case, I don’t exactly have an assistant.

Entering an industry where humility is sometimes overshadowed by jazzy titles and self-awarding ceremonies, it’s nice to know that there are those who bring an air of modesty to what would otherwise feel, surprisingly, like a Wall Street climate.

You don’t have to be a die-hard fan to be a fan.

I’ve been listening to the new Tyler the Creator album recently, as I’m sure many have. But before I blow the box open on this post, I do have to say I like it. It has some really solid beats and a feature from Frank Ocean can never hurt anyone. But let’s get to the point.

In his song ‘Colossus’ he opens by describing a scene at Six Flags where six ‘fags’ (he’s referring to non-diehard fans, but fans nonetheless) rush him for a picture. Now I can understand a musician’s frustration, especially if he or she is the silent type who likes their space, but Tyler is not one of these people. Tyler is crazy, manic and every other synonym you can think of relating to that word or worse. 

To be a fan of an artist, or anyone for that matter, does not require you to know everything about them. That would be plain ridiculous, and a little creepy to be honest. To be a fan, you don’t have to have heard of an artist before they became famous. Some people have lives to live and can’t spend their free time hanging on every post put out on an underground music website. 

To be a fan means to respect the music that an artist puts out and like it for what it is. It’s as simple as that. I have friends, not mentioning any names, who genuinely hate an artist but love their music. Whether it’s the singing, the beat, or the melody I believe that that is where the love should lie.

It really sickens me to see an artist grow from a humble-natured being to someone who demands respect and adornment, and are too caught up in their own self-righteousness. The worst is when they claim they hate the attention, as Tyler often does, but still seem to bathe in the glory that is their fame. 

This was just a post to remind people that you don’t have to be a die-hard fan to be fan. You shouldn’t be disregarded for not being their number one groupie, and you certainly shouldn’t be made to feel worthless. You are the one supporting them and they chose to make the music for you. If the artist is ungrateful then maybe you should consider downloading their torrent, but shhhh, I didn’t say that.

Over and out.  

Blogs are being overlooked

In an article I read today on MarketingProfs, the article stated that when it comes to making purchasing decisions, customers turn to blogs more so than social networks. 

The statistics showed that 31.1% of people believe that blogs influence their purchasing decision. This narrowly beat out Facebook, which stands at 30.8%. Even though this is a narrow margin, the amount of spending that goes into these different social channels is not.

Of brands’ digital marketing spend, Facebook accounts for 57% compared to spending on blogs which is at 5%. This failure to acknowledge the true potential of blogging could result in missed opportunities for brands trying to reel in potential customers.

To Instagram or not to Instagram. That is the question…

I was reading an article, in fact, this one and the opening point made me think of one brand who should definitely not be using a certain social media platform. That, my friends, is AllThingsD on Instagram.

Whether it’s the fact that they have to tag each and every photo with their handle or that they don’t actually take good pictures, I think their lack of engagement speaks for itself. 

The culture on Instagram revolves around the fact that people take interesting photos. If they’re at least not beautiful, the subject should still spark people’s interest.

Just something I had to get off of my chest. I’ll let the picture below do the rest of the talking…

Good tech blogs to follow

Nate Munger is the Director of Customer Satisfaction at LaunchRock and has put together a list of 30 blogs and websites he uses as resources. 

It’s a really good list. Enjoy.

Qualcomm. Are you born mobile?

I saw the recent outdoor stunt they did at a bus station, where people visit a URL and suddenly a host of ‘fun’ things come. 

Now even though the video is pretty fun to watch, what with all the surprised people looking so puzzled, what occurred to me is that this has absolutely nothing to do with mobile. The only tie-in they have to mobile is that the people were using their mobile devices. I’m sorry, but that’s absolutely retarded.

This same trick has been applied time and time again, some holding more relevancy, for example TNT We Know Drama, but this is just getting old.

The lack of originality here is what really disappoints me. But if they want to come pick me up in a Lambo, I’d be more than happy to jump in.

What do you think? Is this type of outdoor marketing getting old, or should companies only do it if it’s relevant to them?