inventing inventors (the dawn of new-age advertising)

Cory got me thinking today. It's something that I've thought of, but have always been to afraid to ask "what?" and "how?" about because of its sheer gargantuan size. We're talking about tackling tradition and breaking the foundation of what holds commercial society in its pedestal today. The warp has already begun, though. It's just up to us, the future generation, to decide how we should approach the rise of an information age, internet browsing leisure, and finding brand new ways to sell the same things that we've been selling for hundreds of years.

Inventors

It saddens me, each time I create a print ad. While print is still viable in the current day and age, I fear that this will not be the case in the decades to come. The first appearance of the Amazon Kindle even had me wondering whether or not printed material would become obselete altogether. This doesn't seem to be the case, yet, however, because humans still like to hold onto their material goods. But as the minds of coming generations grow more free to the concept of non-tangible items, I do in fact believe that print will be dead. 

So what does this mean for us advertisers and designers? The sudden spike in web interest was an expected one, although not in a way that it is now. The internet is slowly but surely consuming humanity's leisure hours, an inevitable consequence for allowing access to such tremendous volumes of information to the average Joe. Websites of every nook and cranny, every hobby and interest, emerge to swallow eyes and ears. A greater variety of niche markets spawn over time, and soon a "general" ad no longer reaches the majority, but rather, just another slice of the pie. How, in god's name, will you fight for your company? For your traits to stand out above the hundreds and thousands of competitors? The answer is that we must invent. Invent a new way of desire, a new way of captivating, and a new way of motivating.

Motivating you to get your fat ass out of that chair and buy my client's damned products.

In the interests of the current interests of the average human

As of now, I believe internet viral video advertising to be at its ripening age. The power of internet video is that people watch these out of their own free will, unlike television garbage that is shoved down our throats. The problem with ads on the tube is that they might be funny, they might be great, but in the end will it always instill a brand name into your mental databank? Will it lift you out of your chair and drive you to the nearest Target? I oftentimes watch television, maybe chuckle once or twice, but would forget the brand. Forget about even buying the fucking product, we can't even get anyone to remember what our message was. Now web. Web is different. A good ad is one that asks for attention and gets it, more than once, often by the same person, and soon thereafter to all of that person's friends. This is the power of viral and the most traditional advertising - word of mouth. In this day and age, information spreading as quickly as it does, "word of messaging" spreads awareness like a wildfire across a summer prarie. You put out a controversial piece, a mind-blowing piece, an epic piece, a hilarious piece, it doesn't matter as long as it does enough to tickle enough people's interests - it will grab a hold of somebody's attention, and that somebody will soon let all the other somebodies know. It's so unbelievably vicious in speed that I find it almost grotesque. 

So what is the challenge?

Quality. So many of these products and short commercials were made without the full intent of viral potential in mind. You have to generate hype. These days, it's all about the hype; about generating the uproar; about making them wait, biting their nails; about clicking that god damn refresh button so fast even Bruce Lee would be proud. The average human attention span is said to be 9 minutes. On the internet, it's more like 9 seconds. If you can grab your viewer's attention within that amount of time and you can hold onto it, you've got a piece of gold in your hands. We're talking big, like changing commercial runtimes, creating narratives, destroying the meaning of product placement, pushing viral marketing to its maximum, breaking the laws of the internet to send out our message to the consumer. What will these methods be? Only time can tell, but we will be responsible, as Inventors, in the interests of the current interests of the average human, to rise up to the challenge, and change advertising forever. The idea of changing the face of commercial marketing is daunting, but can prove much more meaningful and inspiring, rather than the redundant shit we see all the time. 

So yea, if any of you have any wish to join the revolution, please contact me. 

As for other crap in my life - I finished Watchmen (which I will be reviewing soon) and have been playing Street Fighter 4. The game is hard, since I've never played an SF game seriously before. Links suck :( . Thanks for tuning in and keep checking back!