For 80 years work in our industry has continued to operate based on the same method: An advertising idea finds its way to the consumer through many different media channels. It’s not just our instinct that tells us it’s not working that way anymore – the facts that define our client’s success and thus our success show us it’s not working anymore. But what happened exactly?

The world changed, faster and more radically than anyone suspected. The consumer changed more fundamentally than any market research has indicated. Media, as we understand it, changed completely, more than publishers and media houses could have ever foreseen. And technologies have changed with a speed that challenges even the fastest super computers and insane future scenarios.

All this is nothing new. It is common knowledge among every junior accountant executive and product manager. Every informed creative director notices it and every intelligent-minded agency uses it as introduction to their presentations. The novelty is the consequence and it is more basic, fundamental and revolutionary than all other changes in our industry combined. But let’s start at the beginning.

An agency, advertising a product or brand always works towards the same objectives, regardless of creative, media, market or discipline – and that is to find a statement, a position or a benefit for the advertised product/service. And in its role, the agency is acting as an extension to the client‘s marketing department, which is itself an extension of the client’s product development department.

Furthermore, agencies translate the statement, position or benefit into an advertising idea that – no matter how exceptional the format and execution may be – in the end it always states the same -- and that is: "Look how cool I am and what great things I can do." How many people do you know who talk like this and are regarded as cool or interesting? An advertising message is presented to a target group. Old world. Old thinking. Old format, or as I call it: Creativity of first dimension. But is that really creative?

Posted on September 15, 2008 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)