I know we all like to think that people love to see our ads, but there are people out there looking to build tools that allow people to block or skip the beautiful advertising we create. I know… it’s hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t want to see that “HeadOn – Apply Directly To The Forehead” commercial every ten minutes, but there are people out there who desire to consume ad-free uncluttered media.
Browsers, like Firefox, have add-ons, like Ad Blocker Plus, that allow people to block out all online advertising and replace it with images of their choice. Another ad-killing Firefox add-on is Readability, which allows people to remove all the clutter from a webpage and only display the main body copy in a single, easy to read and print column of text.
DVRs, like TiVo, are another great example of people trying to avoid watching advertising.
And Augmented Reality is also trying to get into the game. People at Fast Company and MIT have written about future heads up displays that will allow real world advertising to be blocked out or replaced all together. For example, imagine 2015, you are wearing augmented reality glasses, walking down the street and all billboards, posters and logos in your view will be able to be replaced with photos or web applications of your choosing, in real time.
I’m not here to say that this is a bad trend or a good one. Obviously most of the great content online and in the real world is ad supported and most of us take it for granted. But we will still need a way to spread the word about new products and services. What does this trend mean for the advertising industry?
A mission at JWT is to create ideas that people will want to spend time with. This couldn’t be more true today with technology giving people increasing control over the advertising they see. To counter this, advertisers also have a host of new techniques to break through. Product placement and sponsorships are an obvious answer, but to really make an impact in this new paradigm, advertisers need to create ambient ideas OOH, engage in social media, produce longer form content and build online & mobile experiences that people find useful or entertaining.
In the comments, let us know how you think advertisers can engage in this new environment.
