November 2007 Talking about the changes in the advertising industry, Matthew Mayes is clear that this “calls for a different form of advertising to populate this new space. People choosing to spend lots more time in this landscape.” On the changes in channels Mays may be a digital evangelist, but is no advocate of analogue […]
November 2007
Talking about the changes in the advertising industry, Matthew Mayes is clear that this “calls for a different form of advertising to populate this new space. People choosing to spend lots more time in this landscape.” On the changes in channels Mays may be a digital evangelist, but is no advocate of analogue rejection: “Newspaper and TV brands have a great future, they’ve just going to be watched and read very differently”. However Mayes is convinced that all is not well in the model of how advertising is created. Is ‘the big idea’ happening in the wrong place? “Why do you try to define the ‘big idea’ in the least important channel? This means you have to force it below the line and the model doesn’t necessarily work?”
But for the ad industry, navigating the internet channels is fraught with additional challenges: “The problem is that with a simple ad technology the users can switch it off. Just doing more banners and buttons simply isn’t the answer. It you’re a traditional agency then it’s very very confusing.” Thinking about the recent Nike plus ad campaign by RGA, Mayes is clear that it’s still advertising in some form: “Its it still advertising? I’d argue it is because it encourages me to buy trainers, but the model is changing and the breadth of platforms and touchpoints much richer and deeper than the 30 second spot could ever be.”
On the Fingerskils campaign his team helped create for HP, Mayes can demonstrate how a powerful idea not only gets amplified on the web, but how viral marketing can trigger a fast copy-cat effect with other brands helping to build the impact and engagement of the central brand. “Through Fingerskilz.tv, 20% of traffic to HP’s site and storefront came from the blog MRM created.”
“In the new landscape consumers need far more, and they need it more often. How would you create advertising that isn’t advertising? Take a property like fingerskilz or a platform like Nike+ or even better, combine them both together.”
