AD BLOCKERS: IT’S NOT ABOUT ADVERTISING. IT’S ABOUT BAD ADVERTISING.
A recent AdAge article painted the bleak world that we would face if consumers continued to use ad blockers. In the US, 34% of the internet population uses ad blockers, Millennials being the biggest culprits. Websites popular with this cohort are losing up to 40% in ad revenue. If this continues, we will no longer be able to enjoy BuzzFeed nor the New York Times.
The dynamics affecting the intricate system of content viewed, advertising and content created is the current reality. Publishers create content that attracts eyeballs, that in turn attracts advertisers and that contributes to an ad based revenue business model. In many respects, AdAge raises a fair question. But there’s a dent in the logic because the scenario is built on the existing business model. What AdAge fails to consider the following:
The old business model worked OK before the digital age. When flipping through a magazine, one could either pay attention to an ad or effortless flip to the next page. If an ad came on TV, one could simply pop into the kitchen for a beer or change the channel. The interruption was sort of painless. The interruption did not eat your data or battery and it did not annoyingly make your pages jump. Maybe even more importantly, the stuff used to be pretty good. I wish brands would start posting vintage ads — they’d go viral in a second.
Mary Wells is one of my most inspiring role models in advertising. Having graduated from DDB, she created the Wells Green agency and contributed to some of the most lovable, outstanding and brand building advertising of the 20th century. She not only advertised brands, she created them. In the fabulous documentary Art & Copy, she describes the creative effort from the industry that made the industry great;
“I tried to get my clients to do big things, theatrical drama…It was a time when people loved marketing. They got it. They understood that we were all having fun with one another…we made a series of dramas, like a sit-com or something.
People loved the extra effort, the drama we were giving them.”
What happened with online advertising, is that we as an industry got lazy, opting for efficiency rather than drama, experience and hence effectiveness.
Good work is hard work. It’s just that simple.
The industry cannot imagine a world without advertising. But as industry professionals, we should all imagine a world without bad advertising. That might be the best answer to the looming threat of consumers simply opting out.
If you’d like to discuss and share contact me or check out some more thinking on www.lhbs.com.
