The Future of Advertising: Creating Cults, Not Ads

 

Traditional advertising is dying. Blah blah blah. That’s nothing new. Frankly, I could care less. I love change. It brings opportunity. It’s only natural that an industry as supposedly groundbreaking and forward thinking as advertising evolve, and evolve better than other industries.

Luckily for everyone who actually cares about the ad industry, the so-called recession kicked the whole death-of-the-outdated-agency-model into 5th gear. It finally dawned on PICs (People In Charge) that traditional advertising was inefficient and ineffective for most brands. Shooting a spot is fun, hell yeah, but people just aren’t into regularly scheduled :30 interruptions. There’s a reason TiVo, Netflix, and Hulu are making millions by letting people skip the ads.

After years of much talk and little action, real industry-wide change is happening right before our eyes. The question is: What will tomorrow’s ad agency look like?

Ad agencies will still be idea factories. But creating ads is going to become a side dish to advertising’s main course capabilities. Ideas are still going to be used to create something every brand wants, but few brands have. Something that takes advantage of the collective thinking, immediacy and transparency of Facebook, Twitter, smartphones and everything else that’s bringing people together.

Cults.

That’s what brands need. And that’s something ad agencies can provide. Cults that empower a brand’s biggest fans, produce greater brand differentiation and increase market share. Cults full of passionate, deeply loyal consumers who do a better job at selling a brand than ads ever did. Cults that convince people to opt in, unlike most ads that force people to opt out.

The market isn’t just ripe for this kind of thinking. It’s begging for it. We’re staring into the eye of an ultra-targeted marketing storm. Technology, social media and the changing media landscape mean gangs are forming. Gangs armed with tweets, blogs, status updates, iPhones, flip cameras and a whole lot of passion. Brands just need to give people something to do. Something they choose to do. Something they tell their friends about. It could be anything. For Red Bull, it’s FlugTag.

 

It’s never been easier for people to find others just like them. You’re a snowboarder who craves corn dogs? There’s a group for that! People who love a brand aren’t just taking something away from the conversation anymore. They’re adding to it. Obsessed fans are a huge resource for brands. So is crowdsourcing and user-generated content. They’re all just public brainstorming gang bangs held outside the creative lounge. Anything that leads to a better consumer experience needs to be exploited, raped and pillaged. Nothing is stronger than an ecstatic consumer who has a brand’s back. Brand and consumer, mano y mano.

Brands no longer have complete control over their messaging and they need to deal. It’s a good thing. Content is driving down a two-way street. Brands need to take advantage of this and put their most fervent supporters to work. Like how VitaminWater is using a Facebook group over 1,000,000 fans strong to decide their next flavor and what vitamins it’s going to have.

 

Campaigns need to take on a Choose Their Own Adventure vibe. Let consumers decide where, when and how they interact with a brand. Just make sure there’s something worth talking about down every avenue. iPhone apps. YouTube. Wordpress. Flickr. Widgets. Blogs. Whatever it is, every medium needs to be explored and content has to be ready. If it’s not, a potential cult member walks. Opportunity gone.

For a cult to form, every message should either create a discussion or lead to a place where one is being held. What leads people to that place and the place itself are crucial. Ad agencies have the DNA to create and manage a cult’s resources. And the brands with the most active cults are going to win.

There’s no formula for creating a cult following. Every brand’s cult requires different ingredients. Brands need to partner up with ad agencies to figure out what those ingredients are. Then create new portals that deliver them. Look at Nike Plus. That “campaign” consists of sneakers, iPods + iTunes, nikeplus.com, running and lastly, advertising. These are the resources that have built the Nike Plus Cult. It’s one helluva structure.

 

Ad agencies have a challenge. Make content that’s hunted down instead of content that hunts down people. Make stuff so frickin’ cool a cult forms around it. Cult-forming work is out there. Some agencies are already creating it. We’ve seen it and applauded. But most are clinging to an outdated model. Yes, it can be a reactionary brand’s fault, not the agencies. That doesn’t mean ad agencies can’t grab their sacs and do something about it. I'm excited about the future of advertising. Mostly because it's not the future anymore.

 

Comments

[Blair Currie]

Great post. I too like change and this is the way it is going.

[Mike Johnston]

Completely agree. The problem is that agencies make most of their money on the media buy - not billable hours. The PIC have been too slow to embrace anything that doesn't have a media buy attached - like social marketing. However, they're losing "share of voice in the room" with their clients as new media gurus capture their attention/budgets. Agencies need to provide these services or they are going to continue to lose more and more of the traditional advertising media buys.

The solution is to view these new advertising tools as a project management job, bill the appropriate hours for strategizing, creative development and execution. Maybe even bring in guerilla/social media hired guns for execution the same way agencies hire production companies to do commercials shoots.

[mike benson]

Great to read such a positive view of the present and future.
The key, however, to success for brands and advertising agencies lies beyond tactics.
Success in the future will lie solely in relationships. And not just the shmoozy client/agency 'bleed each other till we're dry' kind of affair.
The relationships agencies need to develop are not the ones with their clients' purse strings, but the kind of relationship where they truly give a shit about their clients' businesses as a whole, and the purpose that business is there to serve: the people who work there, the products or services they make, the truth and the legend of their brands.
And of course the customer. This is where marketeers get to dream on behalf of the customer for our clients. Not just what they'll buy or buy into, but what they need. And the reason that's great? Because apart from the time you spend thinking about consumers at your job, you are a consumer.
But of course, it's going to be hard for some agencies to catch on, because let's face it, if your factory sells 30 second spots to keep the home fires burning, you're sure as shit not going to start recommending your client should launch a social media campaign.
So it's not just the medium that has to change, it's the whole relationship. And that goes both ways.
Being in the service industry doesn't automatically mean your agency should be a hostage to your client's unruly demands. It's a conversation. And when you show your client you care about their business and not just their paycheck, you might just find they care about yours too...or not.
Either way, our success is all about the success of our clients.

[Ali Asgarr Mamode]

Great stuff!! Some really passionate thoughts about the future of brands. A slight nuance though is that cults in the traditional sense preach to unquestioning masses. The modern cult or gang, in this case, achieves success through the transfer of brand ownership to the consumer. This requires a radical shift in the mindset of marketing people, perhaps a shift from 'Brand Management' to 'Brand Stewardship'. But it is difficult to let go...

Brand Loyalty, the Holy Grail of the Brand Manager, cannot even compare with the ownership scenario where the consumer defines how the brand evolves each day.

To put it bluntly, for corporate business, it is the revenue stream that counts: the bigger and more sustainable, the better. Just imagine what a brand's worth would be in a world where the consumer determines the future orientation of the brand.

[Neilson]

This post should be read by anyone creating anything. Well done Nate.

[Greg Christensen]

Well put. And the brands that get their quickest are going to win. VW using iPhone apps as their only media for launching the GTI, for example. While the overly cautious are asking "Should we be on Facebook?" without asking themselves why, the real winners are putting themselves decades ahead of the competition.

[rapsac]

this works for cool products but what about mundane everyday stuff like washing powder or toothpaste?

[Nathan Archambault]

@rapsac: Any brand that's loved can develop a cult following, regardless of category. Two examples off the top of my head: Method hand soap and Tom's of Maine toothpaste. Both have devout, loyal customer bases who would never settle for the competition.