Web Philosophy
On my agency philosophy page I discuss why I believe advertising (and all marketing) is inherently good, though sometimes used for evil or with evil the methods of deception, manipulation and seduction.
One reason I love helping agencies use the web more effectively is that I believe all the current disruption and complexity of the Internet is moving us all to a place where the best in marketing will be vastly improved, and the worst will be weeded out.
Here are a few reasons why I’m encouraged by the improvements the web is bringing to advertising and marketing.
- Efficiency. Broadcast messaging, pushing one big message out to millions in hopes of reach a few, is moving toward obsolescence. Not that broadcast messaging is bad, it’s just so inefficient. It wastes lots of people’s time and attention, not to mention advertiser’s budgets. As content distribution moves to the web, including television content, advertising can become far more targeted, even personalized. This will ultimately mean that consumers get more messages that interest them, and fewer that are completely irrelevant. It also means advertisers can reach their market more effectively.
- Discovery. One of the shifts that takes place on the web is that the consumer is empowered by being able to control what they receive, and through filtering and personalization they receive content that matches their interests. But also, because their online activities are not wasted on irrelevant messages there are many more opportunities to explore and discover things that they might have otherwise been lost in the noise. There’s only so much attention each of us has, the more refined the content that occupies that attention the more likely it is that relevant content floats to the surface.
- Honesty. One reason people hate advertising is that it sometimes lies in the most blatant ways. In the past, when all we had to go on were the marketing materials of the companies we were considering the ability to hide the truth was much easier. Now with blogs, social media, RSS feeds, and search engines it’s becoming way too difficult and costly for companies to risk lying or even obfuscating the truth.
- Community. Collaboration, group insight, and multiple points-of-view are usually better than the sole perspective. Weighing opinions and gauging a conversation leads to more understanding than reading what one person has to say. Especially when that one voice is inclined to tilt the truth in self-interest. Social media, blogging, wikis, and collaborative sites unleash the potential “wisdom of crowds.”
There are lots of other ways the web is changing the game for the better. No doubt these changes are making the job of advertising much more complicated, but in the end it is for the good.