End of Analog, End of Advertising

Brand Integrity Blog » End of Analog, End of Advertising

Back to Brand Integrity Home Written on 14-Jun-2009 by russell.volckmann

Analog television is finally over, and digital TV officially debuts in the US as of today. So what?

I'm not going to write any sappy nostalgic stories about how great things were in the "old days" when we had three network TV stations plus PBS. Plenty of folks have written about this already, and will no doubt continue to do so for some time to come.

Instead, I'd like for you to think about something. Does modern television make your life better? Do you feel a connection with the thousands of products that bombard you with thousands of barking ads each and every day? Do you like the idea of paying for the cable or satellite TV that pipe in all the unnecessary, mindless, and often untrue messages into your living room? Over the course of 10 hours, American viewers will see approximately 3 hours of advertisements, twice what they would have seen in the sixties. Feels like more.

I've been working in media-related businesses for the past 17 years, and my earlier job in ad creative & strategy was to communicate advertiser messages in order to compel you—the consumer—to buy, buy, buy. Early in my career, it was fun. Very soon I realized what a hollow proposition advertising generally is. Yes, some ads are actually informative, relevant, and helpful—but these are clearly in the minority.

In 1965, 34 percent could name a brand advertised on a TV show. Thirty years after, only 8 percent could do so. Consumers decreasingly find ads useful, informative, relevant, or differentiating brands. Did you know that only 6 percent of people believe an ad is generally telling the truth? With numbers like these, it is no wonder even established brands are failing.

Fed up with advertising over 12 years ago, I migrated toward branding & identity as a way to make meaningful connections between companies and customers—for products and services that people can feel good about. My branding agency chooses to strategize, position and represent products and services that make a positive impact on the world in some way—socially responsible companies. Products that live up to their expectations.

In addition, we now create branded experiences and branded events instead of advertising—because people enjoy experiences so much more than barking ads. As an example or a branded experience, a client of ours (anonymous for now) sponsored a river rafting event, and a climbing event with Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to scale Mt. Everest. These kinds of events involve people's lives and true interests on a meaningful level. They connect.

Contrast these kinds of experiences with "buy more burgers, blah, blah, blah" and nonsense like "this new car is actually great for the environment and is a total chick magnet." I don't know about you, but I don't need another reason to feel hungry. And not only is that car relying on pretty much the same internal combustion technology used for the past 100 years—but when you read the fine print, you'll find that the gas mileage is only marginally better that it was on the same model 30 years ago.

Six months ago we cut the tv cable at our home and went back to rabbit ears. We had enough of subsidizing irrelevant ads that try to create aspirations based on utter nonsense. And save for a few shows we found entertaining or informative, TV's programming generally lacks quality, most actors are simply bad, and the same tired old movies are rerun constantly. So now what?

Now that analog is gone, and we have a choice of (a) buying a set-top box, or (b) a new TV, or (c) getting back on cable—I think we're going for option (d) none of the above. While this may not be the end of advertising, it is the end of advertising in our living room.

Russell Volckmann is an award-winning designer, producer, creative director, branding & marketing strategist. For 17 years helping global agencies and companies tell their stories and make meaningful connections. Contact Russell at VÖLCKMANN (& friends) for more ways to connect.

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Tags: television,cable,advertising,branding,commercials,branding & identity,volckmann,experiential branding,digital tv,set-top box,analog tv,ad agencies,branded experiences

Comments

written on 14-Jun-2009
DavidKorobkin [http://DavidKorobkin.com] says:
Russell,
I have never lived in the world of TV advertising, so I have no comment, other than to say that there are five Google ads on your blog.

It's all about the integration of new media and new, deeper knowledge of your market into the mix and as you wrote branded experiences.
written on 14-Jun-2009
julio.ferro says:
Wow, 6 percent! Maybe this proportion is bigger with online communications.

Agree with David, confluence is the new media. So in the future everything will be mixed up in just one device.

We have just cut the cable as well, looking for a decent provider. My kids turned to internet 100% and me and my wife came back to read some books. hahaha
written on 14-Jun-2009
Matt Daniels [http://www.mdaniels.com] says:
Hey Russell,

You touched on quite a few concepts I've been thinking and reading about lately.

Interruption marketing is a failing proposition (though, oddly still effective at 8% recall). Seth Godin explored this idea thoroughly in "Permission Marketing," and I recommend the book to anyone with angst towards Russell's "barking ads" notion.

But I'm not willing to discount advertising completely. There is an opportunity for advertising to be more informative and contextual, especially considering the population's movement away from TV to online media. I'm not pushing the "new media" bullshit as the first commenter, but something of an evolution from the "look at me now" ads we have today.

Branding isn't any less hallow than advertising. Much of the positioning that brand marketers develop is independent of the product, and, at most, emotional. Your idea of branded experiences reminds of Rob Walkers notion of "murketing," from "Buying in." Could be another book worth checking out.
written on 15-Jun-2009
russell.volckmann says:
Thanks for the comments everyone...

Of course I'm only referring to the death of ads in our family's living room. But then maybe there are more like Julio & I out there who have just had enough of the same tired ad formats that we've all been viewing for the past 40-50 years.

Television could have avoided the mass disconnect perhaps somewhat by leading some level of convergence instead of arguing about it for the past 20 years. At least they could have been more a part of the world. Instead the television industry essentially forced audiences toward other alternative media.

Advertising will probably never go away entirely, but yes it is becoming more contextual and more opted based on interests. I think this is forcing out the old ways of advertising into something a bit different. Experiences, conversations, events, and stories that connect with audiences. A new relationship with customers based on true value and trust. And positioning brands around those kinds of tenets is a much less hollow proposition.
written on 15-Jun-2009
cristian.saracco says:
Probably, things will change... and we'll see differents ways to hear, see, touch, smell an ad!....

It's also true that they will become (actually, they are becoming) more "opted"... The issue there is how we are going to opt to something that we don't know!...

Hmmmm... to think about!
written on 15-Jun-2009
julio.ferro says:
Smell, hmm... Picture this: you're watching a program and then you have first a Kenzo perfume ad followed by a Burger King commercial... haha
written on 15-Jun-2009
cristian.saracco says:
And then,,,
written on 16-Jun-2009
Lupa says:
poor dog! lol!

Now seriously, very interesting article Russ!
I don´t have TV, and I can perfectly live without it... Like Julius´ kids, I turned to internet 100% and I find it better, because I can watch and read (and learn) what I really want to...
written on 16-Jun-2009
russell.volckmann says:
Cris, I hope that ad was not a commentary on my blog !

Thanks for the encouragement, Lupa... I'm looking forward to more quality time creating, learning, and entertainment with no tv ads to interrupt me!
written on 16-Jun-2009
cristian.saracco says:
No, no, no.... It was the logic end of the convergence of senses

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