A view on the role of creative concepts in tomorrow's advertising mindset. If you want to be able to continue reading, you will have to let go of the following notion, though:
““The creation of a consumer need is an illusion.””
Even when you don't believe this or feel some sort of resistance, indulge me for the purpose of this piece. Yes, I mean exactly the one thing you fear I would. The premise on which an entire industry still bases itself today: "Nobody is capable of generating needs in consumers' minds.".
Digital is not interested in creating needs, it wants to fulfill them. Your clients are starting to realise this. A public secret, very well know among advertisers: we are not able to craft needs or desires out of thin-air. We are not the magical wizards often described in award acceptance speech.
To simplify things, let us use only three major phases in a consumer journey. There is a awareness phase, a consideration phase and a buy phase. (Again, if you feel resistance at this point, go wait in line.) Advertising attributes people buying products or even considering it, to their effort.
“Nobody buys something because they saw a commercial”
Nobody buys something because they saw a commercial. People who consider buying a product will take an interests in your product if they happen to see it at the right time. In that case, the ad only reminded them of your product they were already considering to buy. Advertising doesn't generate people who buy products.
Digital advertising has no ambition to create needs. It accepts that awareness isn't the first step in the customer journey.
And even if we were possible to bring a product to someones attention out of the blue. That power is only as strong as the medium through which the attention is bought. Because that reach is evolving, your limitations become visible. Those limitations have always existed. Up till today we attributed the difference levels of succes to genius creativity.
Understanding digital advertising from a traditional stance means realising you can no longer take credit for results. Digital creativity doesn't promise the impossible. It will create a concept that only speaks to your real audience. The part of the population that is considering (might be in 5 years) to buy your product. We only create concepts, campagnes, tag lines and content for people interested in your solution.
How can you recognise creative concepts that will flourish within a digital context?
- Their target audience won't be people that need to discover a new product. So the message adreses people already considering the product/service.
- Concepts based on data insights.
- The concept should place the consumer in the driving seat. In some way or form, the concept should make the product or service functional. It should be possible to interact with the product. Yes, an interactive page that allows you to drive a car is digital advertising.
So, what should advertising companies do? They should do whatever they want to. Why should they have to change? As long as they are able to find clients that are willing to pay a lot of money for a black box solution. Even when traditional advertising keeps ignoring the digital reality, there is still a place for old-school advertising. It still remains a business. If a client insists on talking to an audience that will never consider them. And is willing to pay a lot of money for that with no return on investment, then by all means.
““It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty
is goodness.””
Only prestige will legitimise that ludicrous heap of money. Traditional advertising is a luxury product. If somebody wants to buy an expensive painting, they should be allowed to do so. The painting will impress their date, it won't make someone fall in love with them. And if the stars where to align by some divine intervention, a clever or funny ad might make someone consider. Nothing more. You lose the right to claim effectiveness, attribute sales or the fact that your date spent the night based on 1 painting.
We do not want to throw out the champagne with the cork. The art of creative concepts will still have a purpose. A different one none the less. We still need to decorate specific webpages with entertainment, emotion and storytelling. We still need to find clever hooks to use in our Adwords Campagne. We still need to find brilliant uses of digital capabilities (think simulators, but cooler). The difference is that digital creative concepts loose their shackles. No longer are they restricted to the limitations of the media that carries them. No longer restricted by the damning burden of having to create a consumer need. Creativity will become part of the core of communication. The core of every (brand) experience.
If you still feel like it, challenge yourself with the following exercise:
“How would you make advertising that nobody is forced to look at? What would your idea look like if people would have to want to find it. ”
Have fun.
And welcome to digital creativity.