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Luckily for everyone who actually cares about the ad industry, the so-called recession kicked the whole death-of-the-outdated-agency-model into 5th gear.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.
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