Separation of Church and State

Relax! This is not a blog on politics. No, when I say "church and state" I'm talking about how most newspaper, magazines editors and broadcast programmers view their relationship with those "slimy" advertising people.

Oh, the horror!

Just imagine it...the pristine world of editorial/content being forced to work with those ad salespeople or even worse...advertisers!

(Full Disclosure - Holier than Thou editors/program director/content providers drives me nuts. The fact that they can "pretend" that business and advertising has nothing to do with their "art" of journalism borders on the schizophrenic. They are such hypocrites!)

Ok, back to my blog on "Church and State" in advertising. This edition is not just one of my rants about what is wrong with media and advertising, no this is more about what we must do as an industry to save it.

Here is the deal...traditional advertising will eventually disappear! No, I'm not Chicken Little screaming that the end is near. I think it will be awhile before 30's and 60's are extinct, but the day is coming. Technology has finally arrived that allows us to do what we have always wanted to do...skip ads! No one likes advertising. Hell, I sell advertising and I'm the first one to change the channel or scan the radio dial for most ads.

People want to be entertained, not sold. Oh sure, there are times that we actually look for ads when we are in that buying mood, but with the advent of the internet, we go online to get the information that we want. The internet is the tool for the inner transactional shopper in all of us.

So, the big question will be..."How do we build a brand in this brave new world?" As 30's and 60's begin to lose impact on TV or radio, what do we do?

Some might say the net, but they obviously didn't just read my blog. The net is the world of transactional shoppers, not branding.

No, the key to building a brand is and will always be electronic TV and radio, but it will not be in the comfortable world of spots. We must look forward to a world of integration of content and advertising. We must breach the wall between editorial and advertorial.

Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall!



Sorry, got carried away...

The future of advertising will be a blended world. A world where advertising will be woven into content. Not just product placement, production integration! Scripts that weave advertisers into story lines. Content based on advertisers (Can you hear the editors gasping?)

But, with all things this will be really hard to do effectively for both the viewers and the advertisers, but it must be done!

We don't really have any other options.

Internet Tivo ???

Two years ago, Yahoo turned down Microsoft's $44 Billion offer.

At the time, people thought Yahoo was crazy. They were right Yahoo was crazy!

But most people think Yahoo was crazy because of the downturn in advertising revenues, but I think they were crazy because of their advertising model. Yahoo makes money from search (but just a little bit) and display advertising (banners).

I believe that display advertising has a very short shelf life. Why???

Because of a little "killer app" that is just the first of many others... Adblock Plus!

What an amazing product that is changing the online ad game. This is a free extension for the widely popular Firefox web browser from Mozilla. (Yes, only 17% of web users browse with Firefox, but is because the rest of you are just ignorant of the greatness of Firefox).Firefox offers users a FREE and flawless online experience. No hackers, no viruses, and best all it is open code, which means thousands of brilliant programmers are creating extensions and add-ons for the program.

What is an add-on or extension, well, they are free program enhancements that allow users to have the ultimate in personalized browsing. And the greatest of all of these add-ons is Adblock Plus!

Adblock Plus was created by Wladimir Palant and it was designed to block all of those annoying banner, rails, skyscrapers, cube ads, etc. It helps your browser load sites faster and without all of that annoying clutter!

As a web enthusiasts, I love the quick, clean web pages that I receive by using Adblock Plus!

As a advertising consultant, well...let's just say that it makes my job a lot tougher!

Do you know how many clients are clamoring to move advertising dollars away from newspaper and television????I'll tell you...ALL OF THEM!

We all know that newspaper readership is free falling and with the advent of Tivo and On Demand, television viewers are avoiding commercials like they were a Paris Hilton movie! (sorry, low blow)

And now, the Holy Land of advertising's future...the Internet...has it's own ad avoiding technology. Yikes!

Well, at the moment, I'm not 100% sure what the answers are for you or for me, but I do have two suggestions:

1) Short Google and Yahoo stocks. ;-) (Seriously, don't take that as a recommendation on investing. I'm being sarcastic...but all internet companies need to consider this as a possible threat.)

2) Find ways to blend advertising and content! This I believe is the future of advertising...combining the best of editorial and advertising to create a new medium. No, not product placement. It must become product integration!

More on that to follow....

Forget Branding – What is your company’s DNA?

Branding is about manipulating consumers perceptions into the views in which you want your company to be seen.

Branding is what companies did in the 80’s, 90’s and even today when they didn’t understand the power of authenticity.

Authenticity is the currency for the 21st Century.

Authenticity is anchored to your companies ability to be transparent to your customers. Authenticity is what consumers get when you know what your company’s DNA really is.

The key to advertising and marketing success today is not about your marketing spin, your mission statement, or even what your company represents (i.e. your brand).

It is about knowing who you are, why you do what you do, and what makes your customers love you!

It is the very DNA of your company.