If I Knew What the Next Big Thing Was…I’d Be Working at Apple!

Well when it comes to advertising, I defer to people like Theresa, Heather, Shane Dee and all of you in that field just as I would defer any video gaming issues to Dee. (Come to think of it, Dee what do you think about the whole ARG advertising model?)

One of the passages that caught my attention is the one in the WIRED magazine about ARGs, “the games offer a solution to a growing problem: how to reach people who are so media-saturated the block all attempts to get through.” This has been a problem that has perplexed people trying to get information to the masses today and particularly so for advertisers. I do not know enough to predict what form or shape the next Big thing will be in advertising, but I would venture to say it would be the model that is most successful at not only reaching a target audience but whose effects/response on the audience is easily measured. But once again, the ARG model seems to target only a certain niche group of people, e.g the Nine Inch Nails fans. If that is the only group the advertisers hoped to reach, then it was successful, if it were trying to reach a mass audience, then it has to look for a way to get to people who do not have the time to go clue hunting for the next clue to solve the next puzzle.


In the NY Times article about Robert Greenberg, we learn that his team is also trying to figure a way to break through the clutter by wedding design and marketing in groundbreaking ways. I agree with Greenberg’s assertions that consumers are now a lot more powerful than they used to be, they are not passive but active actors that must be appealed to in a different way by dumping the risk-averse and conservative models and embracing new radical ways to appeal to the consumer.

Of course, not every idea is going to work. A good example is the brawny episodes. The article put it best, “if you put ‘creativity’ ahead of the consumer, you are lost.” Then there are also companies like Chrysler who have managed to have successful interactive advertising campaigns.

The Internet has reshaped traditional advertising completely, people in print media are probably not excited about this change but for those in electronic media, it has got be mind-boggling the possibilities that are still out there when it comes to interactive advertising.

In Public Relations, the Internet has long been embraced as an essential tool that I am scratching my head to think of what could be the next big thing. Marken’s article written in 2005 now feels very ancient. PR professionals have already integrated the Internet and interactivity - to a certain extent. I am not sure anyone in PR wants the audience to have total control of the message. After all you are trying to sell the image of a client - be it individual or a corporation. The nightmare for most people in PR today is controlling or influencing the message in the Internet age where they are so many voices out there. You look for ways to make the audience have limited conversation, but I believe at the end of the day, PR professionals seek and can get more control of the audience than advertising people can - just because of the different models of business. Advertisers want to sell a product that people may have to buy and own. PR professionals are trying to sell an image that can be abstract, you dont have to own the image of Dell, but you can have a favorable image of Dell - there is not the need for the level of interactivity required in owning something. My bet - the next big thing comes out of advertising not in PR, if it is, then I just lost another opportunity to make a ton of money!

P.S. Is there anything yet on JogaTV? Can someone send me an invite?