The Internet Sets You Free
Ad people are saying the Internet’s killing the “good ole days” of advertising. I don’t get it. What part of “free distribution to everyone all the time” sounds like such a drag?
Ultimately, the new reality of content distribution ushered in by the Internet is one of the most exciting changes I could imagine for anyone in communications. I don’t know how you run your agency, but it doesn’t sound so bad to me.
The fact is, most advertising empires were built 30 seconds at a time. Over time, all those little TV spots piled up into big margins that eventually became publicly held behemoths—all of which are economically anchored, if not outright addicted, to the :30 TV spots and the budgets that once made them great.
Be that as it may, surely even the biggest shops will take some solace in the simple knowledge that the work is all that matters. And that the same basic creativity and artistry that ignited these once-fledgling holding companies, and that has always underpinned their work, is still very much alive. More than ever, I say.
On the other hand, truly creative agencies the world over ought to be dancing in the streets. The playing field is officially leveled. Today, your $5,000 spot for the local CD shop might just wind up on YouTube and reach 75 million kids in 24 hours or less. Eureka! Now that’s the Internet we were promised. It created an enormous demand for content—demand that has already far outstripped what network and cable TV can sustain. And beyond that, the boom inspired hundreds of thousands of amateur entertainers, auteurs and, I suggest publicly here, budding ad people.
Today, smaller companies will be forced to do more innovative work simply to keep up. (Yahtzee!) And since production budgets for online work will be more manageable (Ask yourself now, Can you live without craft services?), even conservative clients will be more willing to take chances. Good (and small) agencies shouldn’t be afraid. You should jump in. The pool’s huge, the water’s great and the sooner you start swimming like hell, the better off you’ll be.
As for advertisers, batten down the boardroom. We won’t be in Kansas much longer. There are more great advertising ideas coming toward you right now than you ever thought possible. Some will be wild, some will be wrong, some will work. All will be new and well worth your time.
Ultimately, the new reality of content distribution ushered in by the Internet is one of the most exciting changes I could imagine for anyone in communications. I don’t know how you run your agency, but it doesn’t sound so bad to me.
The fact is, most advertising empires were built 30 seconds at a time. Over time, all those little TV spots piled up into big margins that eventually became publicly held behemoths—all of which are economically anchored, if not outright addicted, to the :30 TV spots and the budgets that once made them great.
Be that as it may, surely even the biggest shops will take some solace in the simple knowledge that the work is all that matters. And that the same basic creativity and artistry that ignited these once-fledgling holding companies, and that has always underpinned their work, is still very much alive. More than ever, I say.
On the other hand, truly creative agencies the world over ought to be dancing in the streets. The playing field is officially leveled. Today, your $5,000 spot for the local CD shop might just wind up on YouTube and reach 75 million kids in 24 hours or less. Eureka! Now that’s the Internet we were promised. It created an enormous demand for content—demand that has already far outstripped what network and cable TV can sustain. And beyond that, the boom inspired hundreds of thousands of amateur entertainers, auteurs and, I suggest publicly here, budding ad people.
Today, smaller companies will be forced to do more innovative work simply to keep up. (Yahtzee!) And since production budgets for online work will be more manageable (Ask yourself now, Can you live without craft services?), even conservative clients will be more willing to take chances. Good (and small) agencies shouldn’t be afraid. You should jump in. The pool’s huge, the water’s great and the sooner you start swimming like hell, the better off you’ll be.
As for advertisers, batten down the boardroom. We won’t be in Kansas much longer. There are more great advertising ideas coming toward you right now than you ever thought possible. Some will be wild, some will be wrong, some will work. All will be new and well worth your time.
- Epitomizing viral: Subservient Chicken
