The first week of the new year is always saturated with media predictions for the year ahead and this year is no different. The overall economic gloom has washed over the media in a pallid periwinkle haze of indifference. Most current rhetoric points toward desperate depression-era advertising filled with a myriad of uses for old boots and stale Wheat Thins. The WSJ published their advertising forecast for 2009 and essentially just restates what has been repeated ad-nauseam for the past 6 months: Madison Avenue is cutting back the glitz and glamour in a rush to the bottom.
“Goodbye, A-List spokespeople with unspeakable price tags. Hello, Z-List,”
I agree with most of the contributors in the article: we will see more studio shot advertising, more Billy Mays, higher quality web video, and more emphasis on effective web-metrics. Measurable advertising is here to stay and I only see it increasing in importance; clients love seeing that cutting edge campaigns are reaching the desired demographic and are achieving set objectives.
One positive to come out of the economic downturn is the expected disappearance of one-way Internet communications. Banner ads will decrease in importance unless they offer consumers a compelling reason to interact with them. This interaction between Internet users and brands will be something to watch very closely this year.
I’m excited at the prospect for the prevalence of “Smart Advertising” that can adapt to each customer. We’ve become so tuned out to traditional mass-media that the only way to win back skeptical consumers is with messages targeted to their specific wants/needs. The growth of mobile applications, specifically the location based variety, will forever change the way consumers interact with brands and will hopefully spell the death of the mass-email, dummy billboard, and the Snuggie.
One aspect of the article I vehemently disagree with is the prediction that red will take over for orange as the most featured color in advertising this year. Orange will always be a classic choice for organizations that want to make a bold statement without appearing satanic. Plus, it looks great on business cards and on couches.
