Reframing Innovation in Advertising
Often captivated by emerging innovative concepts, the advertising sector, it appears, might be drifting away from focusing on the true essence of innovation – producing real, measurable effects. This notion was emphasized by the industry’s reactions to two disruptive phenomena in recent years, the metaverse in 2022 and artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023. These disruptions, propelled by major technological advancements like the rebranding of Facebook to Meta and the introduction of ChatGPT, spurred a great deal of excitement but failed to adequately assess the longevity and transformative ability of these concepts.
Decoding the Metaverse and AI
The metaverse, entered the advertising parlance in 2022, without a well-defined meaning. Even with the confusion as to what ‘metaverse’ really stands for, advertising initiatives strived to capitalize on the concept, attaching their campaigns to the metaverse in the quest for perceived innovation, without a full understanding of how the metaverse could effectively serve their strategies.
The subsequent year, 2023, brought AI to the forefront of industry dialogue. The term became ubiquitous, used to denote any technology that features automation or machine intelligence. This widespread adoption of AI, unfortunately, overshadowed the true powers and potential uses of AI, reducing it to a mere catchphrase instead of acknowledging it as a formidable agent of innovation.
Pivoting from Novelty to Results
As we advance into 2024, it is crucial to reorient our focus from chasing after trends and buzzwords to prioritizing the pursuit of outcomes and impacts. Our goal should be aimed at harnessing innovation to deliver superior results, regardless of the trending buzzword besieging the industry. By delving deeper into emerging technologies, we can uncover avenues for more effective innovation and future execution.
Real Innovation in Advertising: Beyond the Catchphrases
True innovation in advertising doesn’t just involve latching onto the latest buzzwords. It implies dealing with genuine industry challenges, such as ad-blocking and creating compelling content that truly connects with the audience. It embodies the exploration of novel ad formats and the potential of user-generated content. Furthermore, it requires reimagining video advertising and educating audiences about the benefits of advertising.
Beyond addressing these challenges, the industry is ripe for the exploration of alternative revenue streams for publishers through new forms of premium content payment. The ongoing rise of marketing technology (martech), the increasing influence of generative AI, and emerging tech like Virtual Production and Creative Automation are all promising facets for the future of advertising.
