Technology: Password to the Future of Advertising

Introduction
In a survey he carried out in 2001, Robert Guest of The Economist predicted that by 2051, the average citizen of the developing world would be as comfortable as Americans are today. This is because current technologies are expected to get cheaper and, consequently, spread. In the same vein Robert J. Samuelson of Newsweek magazine believes that because computers have spread quickly as a result of their affordability and ease of usage, the concept of “digital divide” would inevitably shrink.
I am happy that Nigeria is fast realizing the importance of information and communication technology. I also notice that Intel is gradually establishing a presence on our soil. Perhaps we could take a cue from Costa Rica a country which gave Intel so much tax concessions to build a factory that other high-tech companies also took advantage of the opportunity. As a result the tiny Latin American country was transformed from a banana plantation into a microchip exporter.
What does the future hold for advertising in Nigeria? It is assumed that we would experience political stability and our economy would be favourably responsive. These are vital variables for any meaningful human endeavour, advertising inclusive. The future therefore cannot but be bright and unlimited considering the fact that without advertising support, the media communications industry would almost grind to a halt. It is even posited that the future of media is the future of advertising and vice versa (M. Schrage 1994).
Advances in computer and communication technologies should open up new vistas for people in advertising, not in 2051, but very soon. Technology will encourage database marketing, home shopping channels, infomercials, digimercials and electronic couponing as cost effective ways of delivering messages.
I am glad that some of our print media are already extending themselves to the Internet and I have been visiting some of these sites lately. I salute the visionary advertisers on these sites especially banks. As to be expected our media buying executives are not very enthusiastic about using the Internet for improving brand awareness (from my personal interactions). Perhaps these media “gurus” stumbled on (and are encouraged by) a recent Gartner G2 survey which showed that skepticism led a sizeable number of media executives in ad agencies in America not to recommend Internet advertising to their clients. Why the skepticism? The polled executives viewed the Internet as a direct response medium, not a branding opportunity (B. Morrisey 2003).
Interactive advertising, which encompasses the Internet, wireless and kiosks, according to Gartner G2, faces a primary growth challenge, that is, to strengthen its perception as a brand awareness and product positioning vehicle. However, more recent statistics on interactive advertising courtesy of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) show that online revenue in the United States for the fourth quarter of 2003 totaled an estimated $2.2 billion, with revenues for the entire year estimated at $7.2 billion. At the annual meeting of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) in Greenbrier, Virginia, in 1994, Mr. Edwin L. Artz, chairman of Procter and Gamble, the largest national advertiser in the United States, challenged agency heads to get involved with the “new media” or lose their businesses.

Before June 2000, Coca-Cola had no idea of what it meant to participate in an on-line interactive campaign. However, its representatives later confided in the then IAB Chairman, Rich Lefurgy that Coca-Cola’s numerous advertising agencies had been admonished for sticking to old media plans for years on end, without exploring alternative media types. It is inspiring to know that today these agencies advise Coke on media types to use in order to reinforce awareness for its brands.
“Morphing” in our ad industry should enable agencies incorporate on-line advertising services as providing innovative technology to empower advertisers so as to meet performance objectives and achieve brand lift. The Nigerian advertising agency of the future should therefore be able to provide industry leading optimization technology, advanced targeting capabilities, dynamic ad formats and comprehensive campaign consultation.
The Advertiser
Advertisers follow a viewing audience anywhere. The Internet is bringing all of us rapid communication technologies which will make it inevitable for our advertisers to be global. Brand managers are going to be like air traffic controllers because they will be managing their brands in real-time vis-à-vis different customer groups.
Advertisers will collaborate with ISPs in packaging, merchandising, advertising and in-store promotions. They will concentrate their campaigns on music, sports, movies, holidays, and community. According to WIRED Senior Columnist, Nicholas Negroponte, the future of advertising will witness a complete inversion of traditional practice as advertisers will respond to solicitations by potential customers rather than solicit response (M.Schrage).
Specific advertisers will design games to imprint their products onto the neurons of their youthful consumers. Leading automobile companies for example will develop virtual reality games for adolescents and adults in order to promote their cars. I challenge our automobile industry to differentiate itself by investing more capital and creativity in high-involvement media. In the words of Tom Langeland, president of Sacramento firm Alaris Media Network, “People are struggling, the world is becoming a more competitive place, and advertising dollars have been a huge, misplaced factor. Advertisers don’t know where their money is going.”
Technology, however, will make it possible for advertisers to send out specified ads for us through TV and e-mail. Companies will realize the advantages inherent in text sweepstakes, e.g. instant-to-action which is considered much quicker than with Internet Sweepstakes (Z. Rodgers 2004). Advertisers will be very knowledgeable about their customers and they will be willing to reward them with targeted advertising. Electronic billboards will be equipped to profile commuters as they drive by and as they do so these boards will instantly personalize freeway ads based on the wealth and habits of the drivers (R. Salladay 2002).
The US is already experimenting with an aspect of the future as contained in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.” Very soon billboard ads will scan your retina as you make your way through American city streets and then personalize ads for products relevant to you! In the future, advertisers and marketers will conduct focus groups with people of specified genotypes in order to test their predisposition to particular ad campaigns (M. Schrage). Since the future is about targeted marketing the human genome will prove vital as a database.
The word “meme” was invented by Oxford Zoologist Richard Dawkins more than 25 years ago as ingenious way of explaining cultural change. Memetics will offer the advertising, media, and marketing communities a new paradigm to explain consumer behaviour. The standard will no longer be demographics but memetics. It is therefore inevitable that we start t prepare our students, the communication professionals of the future, with the skills needed for effective cross-cultural communication.
The Ad Agency
Within the agency or media independent, media buyers and planners will have to be engrossed in deep research in order to offer strategic advice to their clients with respect to the most beneficial media outlet for service or product. In the future, the creative team will transcend a mere brainstorming session to being a highly skilled computer graphics team (M. S. Guzy 2000).
Communication outfits will alter the way in which traditional ad agency positions itself. The Linkservs, Hyperias, etc. of this country will merge with the NTAs, Channels, Silverbirds, etc and start a trend for converging services to, for the first time, cover the expanding global market. If the creative team is not fluent in digital animation by then the agency’s existence will be endangered. Programmes like QuarkXpress, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator will no longer be relevant. The in-thing is likely to be Flash, authoring software by Macromedia for creating graphics-based animation programmes with full-screen navigation interfaces, graphic illustrations, and simple interactive (utexas-edu 1995).
The computer will continue to be a revolutionary tool and it will become a permanent part of the advertising industry. Copywriters will get used to the speed and ease of composing on machines which permit quick editing and proofreading. Real excitement and creative momentum will come from creating in a constantly changing, dynamic environment that is consistently challenged. Ads will become software seducers, addicted to enticing and driving customer interaction.
The Media
In the advanced world nobody knows what the media are anymore. Whereas just a couple of years ago they were easily identified as radio, television, magazines, newspapers and outdoor, it is not so today. Examples of new media include: personalized grocery store checkout coupons, electronic information kiosks, grocery store aisle signs, the Internet and in-flight personal video screens, the telephone, video games, PDAs, Palm Pilots, Cell Phones, etc.
Rather than expose a commercial to three million people most of who are indifferent, advertisers will be more interested in showing it to 30,000 and obtain data on them through their responses. The more future-oriented multi-media gurus will therefore provide narrow-casting and interactivity. The demand for Internet radio will be high. Cybercasting radio signals will not only increase audience reach, but also allow advertisers a unique way of targeting their audience (M.S. Guzy). Web receivers are already being connected with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) in the U.S with the aim of delivering Net radio to the automobile. This empowers listeners to a customized experience, while interactive television will enable us to interact with what we are watching.

The Consumer
In future years, consumers will be more knowledgeable about brands and products and become more individualistic. They will use products, brands and services to emphasize their status in society (J. Faquhar 2003). Consumers will also shift the way they consume media in a revolutionary style. In other words, the consumer will be defined on the basis of the media he consumes and how he consumes it. This is known as media graphics (T. Holbrooke 1998). The brands of the future that are destined for success will therefore be those that customize themselves to the consumer (D. Placek 1998).
Regulation
Regulation of advertising in the future will be threatened by new technologies and the ever-expanding number of media vehicles. A larger number of vehicles with which to expose marketing messages will mean more challenges for the appropriate regulatory bodies. Monitoring, investigating, and proving illegalities in a future high-tech milieu will be very complex.
How would the regulatory organs police new media and on-line content services including satellite and cable television, the Internet, and digital multi-channels, vis-à-vis cultural differences and sensitivities, voluntary and mandatory codes and general content classification systems? There would be a need for these bodies to consider modalities for, e.g. Internet censorship, governance in cyberspace and broadcasting services laws. Better options, according to David Goldstein, an Australian media and telecommunications researcher, may include support for end-user filtering, and government as information provider and facilitator (D. Goldstein 2001).
The next generation of those who approve ads are expected to have a sound fundamental knowledge of the scientific principles of subconscious mind function vis-à-vis ad content (Rs Corp 2001).
Conclusion
Current textbook definitions of advertising are bound to change in view of how advancement in technology will affect the future of the field. Our tertiary institutions can no longer afford to teach traditional design and production methods to prepare their wards for entry into any of the visual communication industries. For example, the long-held rules of advertising design, which includes specific layouts and word counts for print advertising, are outdated. Students also need to be educated about new application of existing media planning concepts in advertising, while tradition should be disrupted so as to set a precedent for far-reaching innovation at every turn (White Paper UT, Austin 1995).
In future years therefore the words “Advertising Agency” as a descriptor of its role in commerce will no longer be appropriate (J. Faquhar). When asked what he would call his new agency were he start one, advertising guru and former publisher of Advertising Age, Joe Cappo, said he would create a new terminology like “Marketing Partner” (imedia 2004).For the majority pessimists in our industry, it should be noted that technology holds the ace for advertising’s future. So they need to wake up!