I have a book somewhere called ‘What we believe but cannot prove’. It’s a compendium of the views of ‘leading thinkers’ on ideas that they’re ill-equipped or unable to mount a plausible defence for, but feel in their bones that they’re right about. My thing that I believe but cannot prove is that advertising, as we’ve come to understand it, is a busted flush. The currency these days is ideas, emotions, humour and intrigue, and whatever a conventional advertising exec might tell you, everything else is just straightforward information. Most of our purchasing decisions have reverted to needs (after decades since the invention of wants) and in that context, advertising is simply about a functional reminder.
We’ve exhausted innovation for now. Everything is about replenishment or maintenance or about the pursuit of a need. We search for things and they’re easy to find. We are beyond clunky persuasion. The game these days is about being genuinely interesting or relevant - and to DO that you have to BE that. It is possible - and very arguably better - to do that with a budget of $10,000 (or even less) than it is to do that with a budget of $1 million. In life we stream now. We don’t need to look at the ad - and if we do, we check the countdown timer and look away. They’re an unwelcome intrusion. All the big brands are big brands. We know them and we don’t need to be reminded. There’ll be other big brands, but the way to the top is via the grass roots - a low-fi and genuinely interesting approach to communication and storytelling that starts with ideas that say more about you (without a whiff of commercial purpose) than any sales pitch will ever do. #persuasion #advertising #storytelling #publicrelations
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7moOgilvy is always inspiring us. His words hold great value Blake Bauer