Are we on the brink of a Marketing Revolution? (I hope so!)

My expectations of summer TV are low, very low. Basically, I expect it to suck. For the most part, it seems, the summertime TV lineup consists mainly of re-runs and pointless "Reality TV" shows; with the advertisements in line with the quality of the programming being shown. I suppose this is due to lack of viewership. (In the summer it seems, we all have better things to do, such as enjoying the weather outside, or traveling on vacations, etc.)

I have noticed, however, in the past week or so, that there are some really clever, good quality, advertisements on TV. Why? I wondered.

My brother suggested that the economy was forcing companies to cut their ad budgets and hire newer, cheaper, edgier, smaller firms. (I hope he's right. I'd love to see a shift in the status quo of the marketing world toward smaller, and edgier firms. I like to root for the underdog, I think we should all help the the little guy out by reaching out to individuals with fresh ideas rather than feeding corporate giants.) My brother's theory seemed to make sense to my friend John, who further suggested that companies may be tired of paying huge fees to large agencies for an ever dwindling, fractured audience. As they should be, if that's true. I think John has made a great point about the audience dwindling and becoming fractured and I freely admit I am a part of that audience.

I mean, a lot of people I know channel surf during commercials and are able to completely avoid ads all together in this way. There are still more people I know who avoid ads by fast forwarding through them while watching their favorite shows recorded on their DVR. In our own household we have 3 laptops and 2 desktop computers. (There are 4 people living in our house, my husband, our 2 children, and myself.) More often than not, we can be found watching TV in the evenings with laptops on our laps. During commercial breaks we usually surf the Internet. As with our channel surfing counterparts, we sometimes never return to the program we started out watching because in that 2minute break we've found something more interesting to capture our attention. (And we wonder why ADHD is on the rise.)

There was a time when reaching the masses meant employing one of a handful of mechanisms: Sign ads, bulk postage ads, radio ads, television ads, and telemarketers. In recent years they've tried to add spam and pop-up ads. (Only to be quashed by computer programs designed specifically to block such ads.)

In this ever-evolving age of technology it's no wonder the marketing world is left scratching their heads wondering how they can reach more of us effectively when they can't even seem to get our attention in the first place. For instance, in our house, we do all of our banking and bill paying online, as well as most of our communication (both informative and personal), and a good deal of online commerce, too. This means we leave the house less and see fewer signs as a result. It also means we get a lot less postal mail, which makes it easy to sort out the junk and send it straight into the paper shredder without ever reading it. I can't remember the last time I turned a radio station on. Who needs radio when I can play what I like, when I like, through play lists I create myself?We routinely opt-out of telemarketing lists, and hardly ever answer the phone if the caller ID information looks suspicious to us. So, in an age of internet trade, caller ID, spam filters, pop-up blockers, MP3 players, DVD's, DVR's, and computer based entertainment; how do marketing firms reach the masses?

The answer to that question could be, "very carefully.” "Don't even bother," would work too. More precisely, I think "smaller, quieter, smarter" would be a more effective strategy. We now live in a world that's drowning in sensory overload. We, as a society, have been so bombarded for so long with brighter, louder, faster, more, more, more media thrown in our faces and at ours ears for so long, that we're learning to block it out. We filter and block as much of what we don't want to see and hear as we can. The rest just becomes white noise to us.

There are several things I think the marketing world is doing wrong. In fact, I think a lot of their problems are self-created. One problem being over-kill. “Less is more” is certainly more appreciated in my opinion. I'm inclined to try to shield myself from the “More is more” approach. While I'm at it, I'd like to say that I'm sick of hearing, “Think outside the box.” Has anyone thought recently, that maybe “the box”should be re-examined? Another problem I have with marketing firms is that they tend to "dumb down" the content of their ads in an attempt to reach more people, more quickly. As a result, I think they effectively "turn off" a lot of their target audience. (I can think of few things more insulting than being talked down to.) It's been my experience that another dumb ad is usually received with either mind-numbing apathy, or with scathing contempt.

I think about when I was a kid in school. Whenever the class started to get out of hand, the teacher just turned off the lights, and stood perfectly still at the front of the class without saying a word. It almost always worked! We'd quiet down and she'd proceed. If we didn't, we all knew she would next walk quietly to her desk and start writing detention slips. In social situations, it's most often not the "squeaky wheel" or the "drama queen" you need to worry about. In many cases, it's the quiet loners you need to pay attention to. Have you ever noticed a person when they have laryngitis and they start whispering? (Even when you're not the person being whispered too?) People seem to stop their multitasking and put their full attention on what that person is trying to say. How many people do you know that have a habit of nagging or prattling on about nothing? (Such as the author of what you're reading right now perhaps?) How much of what they've said do you remember? I know that as a parent, when all hell has broken loose and chaos has ensued, I have two choices to regain control. I can use the shock and awe of my voice at it's loudest, or I can get eye contact and give "The Look."

I use "The Look" as often as possible. I find that, besides the physical strain involved, the more I yell, the more they tune me out, whereby I yell louder, and they tune me out harder. Yelling, for me, is only effective when used in moderation. "The Look”, on the other hand, requires eye contact therefore requiring the recipient's attention. I can convey a very clear, often varied, sometimes complex, message without saying a word. "The Look" can be delivered over great distances, and through any level of noise, and it's socially acceptable, even encouraged in some cases, virtually everywhere! Looks are also very versatile I can use a variety of looks to convey all sorts of messages to all manner people!

Oh, I can only imagine what a giant like Omnicom would do to get there hands on the power of “The Look”! Can you imagine? They determine their target market, throw “The Look” out there, and instantaneously we are following their commands! Ha ha, What a Plankton kind of idea! Fortunately for us, the “The Look” is only as powerful as it's wielder's ability to gain our attention.

Sometimes, though, the damage has already been done and a look is no longer enough. A discussion is now in order. Of course, I could go off the deep-end right then and there. I can rant and rave until I'm blue in the face, but my kids will have put up a wall and tuned me out long before I'm done making my point. Besides, it's hard to convince someone I have a valid case when I appear to be a lunatic. So, again, I find smaller, quieter, smarter, is just more effective. Especially if it means taking a few minutes to calm down and think! When the discussion does take place, I always try to talk calmly, and intelligently with them alone, in a quiet room. That's when I know I have their full attention and I can deliver a message that, I hope, is sound, and compelling.

But I digress, this is not an piece about parenting. This is me getting excited (possibly overly and/or prematurely) about seeing a few good advertisements on TV, and hoping that through our elusiveness and evasion, our apathy has become apparent in the market; that we can somehow affect a revolution in the world of mass marketing. (OK so maybe that's a bit much.) It's about me venting my disenchantment with advertising media and my fervent hope that one day they'll get a clue. I appreciate companies who have my information but choose not to sell it. Likewise, I appreciate marketing that is clever and creative without being overbearing. I prefer free-thinking individuals with fresh ideas over corporate conglomerate drones. And I'm far more likely to respond to a few well thought out products or ads, than I am to having anything shoved down my throat. We (I speak for myself and my family) are intelligent individuals who value our peace and privacy, and prefer to be treated as such!