Advertising Odyssey in the 21st Century
The advertising business is in the midst of a 21st Century odyssey, but unlike Homer’s Ulysses, it does not know where home is anymore. For that reason, it may take even more years than Ulysses did to get there. Today’s ad business knows more about what is not home than it does about where home is.
Most experts agree that newspapers can no longer provide advertising the base they did for more than two centuries. The business now wants more than a static print ad that is difficult to target, even more, difficult to measure, and is in a long downward trend.
That’s part of the reason newspaper advertising declined another 28% in the third quarter of 2019. The Newspaper Association of America said total third-quarter advertising dropped from $8.9 billion in 2018 to $6.4 billion in 2019.
Let us consider the example of a couple of best aussie online casinos. They advertised together on online cross-platforms without taking the help of print media. Today they are flourishing and have reached corners of the world.
Controversial Talk Shows
The ad industry also wants more impact than radio can provide in its currently segmented condition. Radio’s heavy dependence on controversial talk shows also makes it unattractive to some advertisers.
Advertisers still like television’s ability to deliver an emotional message, but they no longer want to plant all their roots there. Broadband TV spends money on unneeded audiences. Cable TV has potential but it lacks the ability to really target audiences as much as advertisers demand today. And its interactive capability has been disappointing.
Billboards are moving from static boards to flashing digitized messages. But they must still be absorbed by viewers traveling at 30-to-70 miles per hour.
Printed directories must now compete for readers with online versions, further segmenting the delivery of ads.
Online Video Lacks TV Quality
The Internet is still tweaking its targeting and interactive capabilities. Most viewers still prefer to read a printed page than a computer screen. The online video lacks the quality and impact of big-screen television and still relies on the viewer to filter millions of videos to reach the desired clip.
Mobile media, perhaps more than any other, offers to advertise a new home. However, the technology, despite its growth, leaves the impression that there has to be something better than those tiny screens and keyboards. Their size may mirror the diminishing role of advertising in the near future.
More than ever, advertising must now share its budget and corporate resources with public relations, special events, public service, community relations, and social media. Ad agencies sometimes find themselves competing with the same media that they are trying to sell to clients. Meanwhile, most of the traditional ad media continues to merge and dwindle in size and impact.
Finally, as the search for a new base continues, advertising is experiencing in-house battles for superiority between creative and targeting forces
Agencies Must Redefine Themselves
The bottom line: Advertising agencies and ad departments will have to redefine themselves to meet growing client expectations and dwindling ad budgets. As 2019 nears its end, the business is finding that it really cannot go home again, at least to the comfortable home and homes it enjoyed in its heyday.
