The future of advertising is too fast, too furious | Stelios Anastasiades | TEDxUniversityofNicosia

Summary

The video script discusses the rapid pace of change in the advertising industry, driven by technological advancements that have transformed consumer behavior. It highlights the challenge of standing out in a saturated market where most advertising goes unnoticed, and brand loyalty is on the decline. The speaker emphasizes the need for companies to reinvent themselves and their strategies frequently to stay relevant. Creative approaches, such as GEICO's unskippable ad and Pepsi's silent spokesperson campaign featuring Marshon Lynch, are presented as examples of innovative marketing that breaks through the noise. The importance of data analytics and adapting to new platforms like social media is stressed, along with the necessity for agility and continuous reinvention in the face of an unpredictable future.

Takeaways

• 🍸 The advertising industry is fast-paced and can involve a hectic lifestyle, with the speaker humorously mentioning having three martinis with breakfast to illustrate the point.
• 🚀 Technology has significantly changed how we live, work, and shop, leading to a fast and furious marketing landscape where consumers are overwhelmed with choices and messages.
• 📉 In the UK, less than 3% of advertising is remembered positively, highlighting the challenge of standing out in a saturated market with high-quality creative advertising.
• 🔄 Brand loyalty is not as strong as it used to be, with 89% of people believing that the brands they use are as good as any other, leading to a focus on immediate market penetration over long-term brand building.
• 🔄 Marketing strategies and brand identities are changing rapidly, creating a vicious cycle where constant change leads to less memorability and weaker brand positioning.
• 📈 Core competencies have an expiration date; companies must adapt and evolve their core competencies to stay relevant, as illustrated by the examples of Apple, Nokia, and Google.
• 📉 Companies that fail to adapt to technological changes, like Kodak and BlackBerry, can quickly become irrelevant, even if they were once market leaders.
• 🔄 The CEO of BBDO Worldwide emphasizes the need for constant reinvention in the advertising industry, stating that agencies must reinvent themselves every five years to avoid becoming obsolete.
• 🌐 The future of advertising is digital content, but it's crucial to use digital media correctly and not just repurpose traditional ads for digital platforms.
• 📊 Data analytics is key to understanding what works in advertising and why, allowing for more effective and intelligent content creation.
• 📺 Creative examples like GEICO's unskippable ad and Pepsi's silent video with Marshon Lynch demonstrate the power of thinking outside the box and leveraging unique insights to create memorable advertising.
• 🔄 The advertising industry must embrace instability as the new norm, constantly adapting, taking risks, and being open to new ideas to succeed in a fast and furious environment.

Q & A

What is the main issue with the current pace of advertising and marketing communications?

The main issue is that technology has significantly sped up the pace, leading to confusion among consumers who are overwhelmed by too much choice and too many messages, resulting in a majority of advertising not being remembered positively.

What percentage of advertising in the UK is remembered in a positive way?

Less than 3% of all advertising in the UK is remembered in a positive way.

What is the impact of rapid change in marketing strategies on brand loyalty?

Rapid change in marketing strategies, including frequent alterations in brand positioning and taglines, has led to a decrease in brand loyalty, with most consumers believing that different brands are equally good.

What is the term used to describe a company's ability to do something really well?

The term used is 'core competencies'.

Why did Apple change its name from 'Apple Computer' to 'Apple Inc'?

Apple changed its name to reflect the realization that they were not just about computers, but also about their operating system and the ability to cross platforms in different technologies.

What happened to Nokia as a result of not adapting to technological changes?

Nokia, once a leader in mobile telephony, disappeared from the market because they failed to move with technology and the times, eventually facing bankruptcy and being sold.

What was the BlackBerry's status in 2007?

In 2007, BlackBerry was the number one smartphone used by professionals.

What is the significance of the 'unskippable ad' created by The Martin Agency?

The 'unskippable ad' is significant because it breaks the norm of pre-roll ads by being entertaining and engaging within the first few seconds, thus encouraging viewers to watch the entire ad instead of skipping it.

What is a common characteristic of Facebook video views that advertisers need to consider?

80% of Facebook videos are viewed without sound, which means that advertisers need to create content that can convey the message effectively without the need for audio.

What is the importance of data analytics in creating effective digital content?

Data analytics is crucial as it helps in understanding what works and why, allowing for the creation of 'intelligent content' that is more likely to yield positive results.

What advice does David Lubars, the Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Worldwide, give for coping with the fast and furious pace of change in advertising?

David Lubars advises that agencies should not let themselves become rigid but remain adaptable and open to new things, constantly reinventing themselves every five years, and making use of data analytics to stay ahead.

Why is it important for companies to redefine their core competencies regularly?

Redefining core competencies is important to adapt to the rapidly changing business environment, ensuring that companies stay relevant and competitive by focusing on what they do best and evolving with technological advancements.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Fast-Paced Advertising and Its Challenges

The first paragraph discusses the fast-paced nature of the advertising industry, often depicted as hectic in media. The speaker admits that this portrayal is accurate, with a nod to the excessive pace and the influence of technology on consumer behavior. The rapid changes in technology have led to a marketplace that offers too much choice and bombards consumers with messages, leading to a situation where only a small fraction of advertising is positively remembered. The UK, despite having a sophisticated market and excellent creative advertising, sees less than 3% of ads remembered positively. Brand loyalty is also on the decline, with most people believing that brands are interchangeable. This has created panic and anxiety among marketing directors, who are more focused on immediate penetration than long-term brand building, leading to a vicious cycle of frequent changes in strategies and messaging that consumers do not remember. The concept of core competencies is also discussed, with examples of companies like Apple, Nokia, and Google evolving their core focus to adapt to changing times. The paragraph ends with a cautionary tale of brands like Kodak and BlackBerry that failed to keep up with technological advancements and subsequently lost their market dominance.

05:02

🔄 Reinvention in the Digital Age of Advertising

The second paragraph emphasizes the need for constant reinvention, especially in the advertising industry. It highlights Steve Jobs' ability to reinvent Apple and multiple industries multiple times. The CEO of BBDO Worldwide stresses the importance of reinvention every five years, even for an advertising network that is not a tech company. The paragraph touches on the future of digital content and the need to use it correctly, rather than just replicating TV ads on social media. It introduces the concept of 'content intelligence,' which combines data analytics with creative content to produce effective advertising. A creative example is given, where The Martin Agency created 'unskippable ads' for GEICO that were entertaining and engaging, making viewers want to watch instead of skipping them. The paragraph concludes with the idea that such innovative approaches to digital media are necessary to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

10:03

🚦 Adapting to the Silent Majority on Social Media

The third paragraph focuses on the reality that a significant portion of social media content, particularly on Facebook, is consumed without sound. It points out that most Facebook videos play silently until clicked on, and many users do not interact to enable sound. This insight should inform the creation of video content that can convey its message effectively without relying on audio. An example is given of a campaign featuring Marshon Lynch, an American football player known for his reticence. The campaign played into his reputation for silence, making it intriguing when he appeared in an ad for Pepsi without speaking, which garnered significant attention. The paragraph concludes with the advice from David Lubars, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Worldwide, on the importance of remaining adaptable and open to new ideas in the face of rapid change. He suggests that agencies should not become complacent but should continuously evolve and innovate to stay relevant in an industry characterized by instability and rapid shifts.

Keywords

💡Advertising

Advertising is a marketing communication strategy used by businesses to promote their products, services, or ideas. In the video, it is described as a fast-paced and hectic business, reflecting the rapid changes in consumer behavior and technology that affect how ads are created and received.

💡Technology

Technology refers to the tools, systems, and methods used to achieve specific goals. The video discusses how technological advancements have changed the dynamics of advertising, leading to a faster pace and increased competition in the market.

💡Consumer Choice

Consumer choice is the ability of consumers to select from a range of products or services based on their preferences. The script mentions that technology has led to an overabundance of choice for consumers, which can result in confusion and a lack of brand loyalty.

💡Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is the commitment and allegiance consumers have to a particular brand. The video highlights that brand loyalty is not as strong as it used to be, with a significant percentage of people believing that different brands are equally good.

💡Core Competencies

Core competencies are the unique strengths or capabilities that a company possesses, enabling it to outperform its competitors. The script discusses how companies like Apple and Google have had to redefine their core competencies to adapt to changing market conditions.

💡Data Analytics

Data analytics is the process of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing conclusions, making predictions, and informing decision-making. The video emphasizes the importance of data analytics in understanding what works in advertising and why, which is crucial for creating effective campaigns.

💡Content Intelligence

Content intelligence is the application of data analytics to content creation, ensuring that the content is not only engaging but also effective in achieving business goals. The script uses this term to describe the combination of data analytics and creative content that leads to successful advertising.

💡Unskippable Ads

Unskippable ads are a type of online advertisement that viewers cannot skip after a certain time frame, forcing them to watch the entire ad. The video mentions an example where an ad was designed to be so engaging that viewers chose to watch it even though they could have skipped it.

💡Social Media

Social media refers to online platforms that facilitate the creation and sharing of content, as well as communication among users. The script discusses the unique challenges and opportunities of advertising on social media, such as the need for 'coolness' and the prevalence of viewing videos without sound.

💡Reinvention

Reinvention is the process of making significant changes to something, often to improve it or to adapt to new circumstances. The video speaks about the necessity for companies and individuals to reinvent themselves regularly to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment.

💡Digital Content

Digital content refers to any type of media that is consumed in a digital format, such as videos, images, and text. The script highlights that the future of advertising lies in digital content but also challenges the audience to think creatively about how to use digital media effectively.

Highlights

Advertising is a fast-paced and hectic business, with a lifestyle that is often portrayed in movies and television shows.

The speaker admits to having three martinis with breakfast, emphasizing the high-stress nature of the industry.

Marketing communications are becoming too fast and furious due to technological changes affecting consumer behavior.

Consumers are overwhelmed with choice and bombarded with messages, leading to a lack of brand loyalty and memory.

In the UK, less than 3% of all advertising is remembered positively, highlighting the issue of 'invisible advertising'.

89% of people believe that any particular brand they're using is as good as other brands, indicating a shift in brand perception.

Marketers are more focused on immediate penetration than long-term brand building, creating a vicious cycle.

Core competencies now have an expiration date, as companies must adapt to changing technologies and market demands.

Examples of companies like Apple, Nokia, and Google show how core competencies can evolve or become obsolete.

Kodak and BlackBerry are cited as examples of brands that failed to adapt to technological changes and lost market leadership.

Steve Jobs is praised for reinventing Apple multiple times and revolutionizing various industries.

The CEO of BBDO Worldwide emphasizes the need to reinvent oneself every five years to stay relevant in the advertising industry.

Digital content is the future, but there's a call to rethink and reinvent digital media to avoid becoming invisible or uncool.

Data analytics and creative collaboration are key to creating 'content intelligence' that gets results.

85% of YouTube pre-roll ads are skipped, prompting the creation of more engaging and unskippable ads.

The Martin Agency's unskippable GEICO ad is an example of innovative advertising that breaks the norm.

80% of Facebook videos are viewed without sound, which should influence how marketers create video content.

Marshon Lynch's Pepsi ad is a creative example of how to engage viewers without relying on sound.

Agencies must remain fluid and adaptable, constantly reinventing themselves to cope with the fast and furious pace of change.

The future is unpredictable, but embracing instability and being open to new ideas is crucial for success in advertising.

Transcripts

[Music]

all right I'm sure you all have some

impression of how advertising is uh a

fast-paced and hectic business you've

seen movies you've seen television shows

of our crazy lifestyle and I'm here to

tell you that that's all true I had

three martinis with breakfast before I

arrived here this

morning um I'm also here to tell you

that it's becoming too fast and Too

Furious in fact all marketing

Communications are becoming too fast and

Too Furious the reason for that is

simple technology has changed the way

that we live the way that we work the

way that we shop and what that does is

basically creates a lot of confusion

with um consumers being offered too much

choice and they're bombarded with too

many messages very few of which are

being are registering or being

remembered this is a slide that shows

that in the UK less than 3% of all

advertising is Remembered in a positive

way what's important about this is that

the UK is a very sophisticated Market

with very very good creative advertising

brilliant creative advertising so 90

97% is not registering is not being

remembered it's what we call invisible

advertising or it's registering in a

negative

way brand loyalty is not what it used to

be 89% of people believe that any

particular brand that they're using is

just as good or the other brands are

just as good as the brand that they

choose 70% of car own owners will not be

repeat buyers of the same

brand chocolate lovers love a particular

brand but they don't always buy the same

brand so what does this do to marketing

directors it creates a lot of panic it

creates a lot of anxiety marketers are

more interested in penetration today

than in brand

building and that creates a vicious

cycle we used to build a brand identity

that we thought would last a lifetime

today marketing strategies brand

strategies positioning campaigns even

taglines are changing on the campaign by

campaign

basis they're changing faster and more

furiously than ever and that creates a

vicious cycle the more we change the

more we use different approaches

different platforms different

positioning different taglines they're

not

remembered core competencies now have an

expiration date what do we mean by core

competencies a company that knows what

to do something really well that's their

core competency when they get involved

in different businesses and they start

to have problems we say refocus come

back to your core competencies but what

are core core competencies today ask

Apple Apple computer they used to be a

computer company they took out the word

computer and now it's Apple Inc because

they realized they weren't just about

computers it was their operating system

they could cross Platforms in different

Technologies Nokia their core competency

the biggest the leader in t in Mobile

teleph they're not around anymore they

were sold they were about to go bankrupt

what was their core competency Google a

search engine that's their core

competency but now they're making

Android telephones they're making uh

streaming devices they're making tablets

they're making all kinds of things

they're making

software and what about this Kodak which

which was an iconic brand for so many

decades one of the strongest brands in

the world for so many decades

disappeared because they didn't move

with technology they didn't move with

the times do you remember this it looks

like something from another era it's the

BlackBerry in 2007 it was the number one

smartphone used by

professionals the number one smartphone

used by professionals and all of these

the market leaders where are they today

Palm do you remember

Palm in 2006 a company called Myspace

was bigger than

Google and within two years they became

irrelevant by 2008 they became

irrelevant Facebook was not relevant in

2006 yet so these are Fast Times these

are Furious times to be a brand leader

to be a market leader a category leader

and to disappear within 2

years is Fast and

Furious Steve Jobs was famous for

co-founding Apple but he's actually more

famous for Reinventing Apple several

times he reinvented Apple at least three

times within his

lifetime and at the same time he changed

the computer business the music business

telecommunications photography and

entertainment he completely changed

these

industries this gentleman is the CEO the

president and CEO of bbdo worldwide he

told us recently that we have to

reinvent ourselves every 5 years we're

not a technology company we're an

advertising Network we're an advertising

company and he's telling us we have to

reinvent ourselves every 5 years or

disappear this is a sign of the times

that are fast and furious

the future of course is digital content

right we all agree on that everybody's

doing it everybody's using it we all

agree 5 years ago 6 years ago 10 years

ago we weren't so

sure is it really the

future I want to provoke you into

thinking that we're not using it

correctly we have to rethink and

reinvent digital media

or it's going to be useless because

everybody's doing it and everybody's

doing the same thing it's not about

putting an ad that you created on

television and putting it in social

media and expecting to get the same

results simply because you got a few

likes from friends and you think you're

going to get results the internet is a

totally different way of working for us

it's a total totally different way of

communicating with

people and we have to take advantage of

that it's all about data analytics

knowing what works and why knowing what

works and why you don't just take an ad

a campaign that was done on TV and slap

it in social media there's a coolness

factor with social media and if you're

not cool you don't become invisible like

you would in other media you become

uncool you're branded on cool so you

have to be careful about what you

do data analytics with great creative is

the perfect example of the right brain

left brain working together it's knowing

what works how it works and using great

creative it's the killer combination

it's what we call content intelligence

not just having

content but having intelligent content

content that's going to get results now

here's a fun

fact 85% of YouTube pre-roll ads you all

know what pre-roll ads are you go on

YouTube and you search for something

that you want to see and instead of

watching what you want to see you have

an ad that you're forced to watch and

these ads play for 5 seconds or 10

seconds depending on the platform right

and you're confronted with this little

button here that says skip the ad after

that time frame but you cannot skip it

before that time frame if it's 10

seconds what do marketers do they try to

cram as much information as possible

within that first 10 seconds and what

does that do it makes for very annoying

adver

ading it makes for very annoying

advertising so one company in the US

called The Martin Agency created What's

called the unskippable ad instead of

doing the norm instead they they did

something break through they thought how

can we overcome this situation where

people at 10 seconds are going to skip

the

ad how are we going to do it we have to

entertain them in some way we have to

think of a way that's going to keep them

watching watch this ad please don't

thank me thank the savings you can't

skip this GEICO ad because it's already

over Geico 15 minutes could save you 15%

or more on car

[Music]

insurance but it's not

over and you continue to watch and

you're entertained and you're smiling

and I hear people

laughing and that's what it's all about

making you feel good and wanting you

getting you to want to watch this

ad instead of

skipping people are actually telling

their friends hey did you see this ad go

to YouTube and watch this

ad and it goes on and on and on and you

can they created a whole series of these

and it won all kinds of awards at cons

this year simply because it broke the

rule of the skippable

ad here's another fun fact 80% of

Facebook videos are viewed without sound

do you know that 80% of V of Facebook

videos are viewed without sound because

when they're on your timeline they play

without sound until you click on them

and then they will play with sound now

most people don't bother to click and

unless it's something really really

important to them they won't click but

they might watch it without sound so if

you have that Insight if you have that

knowledge you can create creative that

is going to work even without

sound this was done by bbdo in New York

this was a spokesperson why would you

put a

spokesperson in an ad that's going to be

viewed without

sound that sounds silly this is Marshon

Lynch he's a famous American football

player

and he's known his nickname is the

Beast he doesn't like to talk in fact

very few people have ever heard him talk

at all he has been fined by the National

Football League for not giving

interviews and he has this reputation of

not talking so when it went on YouTube

and this played in all platforms it

played on television as well when it

when it went on YouTube everybody was

curious to see what is Marshon Lynch's

voice like

so when it played Without

sound sorry not changing when Pepsi

approached me about being their

spokesman I said I don't know I don't

really like to speak so they said well

Pepsi's all about trying something new

give it a shot so I said okay as long as

I don't have to speak and they said okay

would you at least move your

lips glug glug glug glug look look look

look

look speech mode

boss any me speaks in the end you hear

his voice for two

seconds um with this Insight we can

reink storytelling and turn it into

story showing another way of overcoming

the silent videos story showing here's

an example

[Music]

it's working okay it's much nicer with

the sound but you can get a message

across for YouTube if you do it

correctly without sound

now here's here's the trick if everybody

starts doing this with Graphics then

you're going to get bored with watching

lots of videos so you have to constantly

rethink reinvent recreate new

breakthrough ideas and that's why we

have to reinvent ourselves every five

years this is uh the chief executive

officer Chief creative officer of bbdo

worldwide his name is David lubars he's

a very animated person you can see from

his photograph and when asked about the

future in advertising he said this I

never position myself as a futurist I

don't believe other futurists who think

they can predict the future when asked

how can we cope with this new Fast and

Furious situation he said agencies

should not allow themselves to let the

cement Harden around

them you're supposed to keep stirring

and remain

liquid to open to be open to all these

new things that will present themselves

El and that's what it's all about we

cannot really know what's going to

happen 5 years down the road but we have

to be able to keep moving along with

everything that's happening instability

is the new Norm in our business

instability we have to deal with it by

anticipating change by making long-term

planning into the short term learning to

adapt and take risks make fast and

furious turns redefine core competencies

every five

years make good use of data and data

analytics and whatever is working now

fix it

anyway because the future is too fast

and Too Furious I thank you very much