We all knew this was coming, but it’s becoming more real. Not only are we constantly bombarded my by messages nearly every second, there appears to be some space we haven’t covered up yet.
The floor wasted on walking? No it’s ad space!
The handrail of the escaloter just for safety? No, it’s ad space!
The inside of your eyelids? Well, hmm, how much?
The toiletpaper just for – ah, well, there’s one place I’ll gladly accept an ad or two.
The International Herald Tribune‘s Louise Story wrote this article about it. It’s an interesting article that doesn’t go into much detail except that it hints at advertisers thinking this is a great idea and that people are already sick of it.
Reminds me of this scene from Minority Report. Scccaaaaaarrrrryyyy. (feed readers, click here)
The article states: “Some advertising executives say that as long as an advertisement is entertaining, people do not necessarily mind the intrusion — and may even welcome it” Of course! These are the people who have never had a second alone with their own thoughts! They’d be shocked if they were forced to just…*gasp* sit and think! The mere attention-span fragmenting concept puts some people into hysterics. I honestly don’t know how I’d live in a big city.
And what’s worse, is that communicators already know that no matter how stupid your message, it’s never going to get the attention you want. It’s the quality of the message that counts. Unfortunately, the further into this landscape of adscape we go, the harder it is to get real messages out. Thank God for our innate ability to ignore things.
And people, did I mention people?
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Luke Armour - Digital Marketing and Public Relations Observations, Commentary, Frivolity 
Advertising is by far the best information vehicle that man has ever invented. Can you imagine a world without ads? How would you know what to buy? Or even what is available to buy? When I buy a paper, look at a magazine, or even watch TV, I notice the most valuable and useful information that I get out of these outlets is on products, vehicled through advertisements. I also love looking at billboards while walking or driving on the streets, as this is an extremely efficient way of learning about products.
I know that some people get irritated by the FREQUENCY of some ads, but look at it this way. Advertising pays for many things in our society and even makes tons of stuff free. Classic example: L.A. Olympics was entirely paid for by advertisements. Internet owes its evolution and prosperity MAINLY to advertisement. There are a million other examples like these.
Bottom line is that advertising is good for us, our society, and way of life. More of it is just better.
Amen!
Armanis,
I’ve been thinking about your comment and how best to respond. Mostly I was slow in responding ’cause I’ve been playing hockey for the last few days, but that’s off topic.
To answer your question. Public relations. PR is how I would know what to buy or what is available to buy. The media relations facet of PR is, to me, one of the most powerful concepts in marketing.
Ads? Who can trust an ad? I know you paid for it, so why should I believe you? A third-party endorsement from an objective source – that’s where to get information and trust it. Goes back to the old joke about telling a woman you’re good in bed, that’s advertising. Having another woman tell that woman that you’re good in bed, that’s PR. More credible, more believable.
Al Ries has written a lot on this subject. Now, I also think he tends to refer to PR when he means publicity, so there is contention there, but he’s also made some points – many – that I’ve agreed with. PR is how you build a brand, advertising is how you maintain your brand. Putting out an ad when your brand plays no part in the mind of the consumer is like throwing money out the window. The thousands of ads we see a day go, thankfully, unnoticed. But word-of-mouth, an op ed piece, or another way to grab my attention from a trustworthy source is a much more reliable method of getting messages out.
But it all depends on your objective.
I certainly agree with your assessment that advertising pays for many free services. Radio, local television, podcasts, etc are all channels that I’ve used to get great content for free. There’s a place for it, even if it’s entertainment, but sometimes it’s too much.
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