Blog Number 7

The future of advertising is ever nearer, and everyday that passes brings us another day closer to new steps of advertisement. I believe that advertisements will become more demanding, albeit a bit shorter. Over time, ads have gone from the detailed depictions of a product, combined with an image, to short one second ads meant to subliminally attract your attention. The realm of advertising is quickly realizing that the tactics of the 90s, even those of the early 2000s are no longer usable. Advertisements, in the future, will engage the audience at a more subconscious level, engrossing the audience without them even realizing it. We have already taken steps in that direction with the extremely brief one second ads. The advertising media has realized that the great amount of advertisements forced in our paths on a daily basis has led us to become immune to ads, and therefore, they no longer hold our interest. The media developed one second ads to capture our attention, and in the future, we may only see flashes and glimpses of ads, leaving the audience to create their own ads in their imaginations. In the next ten years, I believe ambient ads will become more popular, marketing goods at unexpected places, and sometimes engaging the viewer without them even noticing. These advertisers will have to face the challenges of making sure their unconventional ads reach their target audience, for certain ambient ads may reach broader or narrower audiences than was intended. As I also mentioned, the ads may not even make sense to their audience. In such instances, the advertisers must take an approach of trial and error, and if they are wise, they would do this process before they actually place the ads out for the mass. They must fine tune their ads to ensure that their target audience is reached, and they will also need to make sure that their audience understands and can relate with the ad, whether the product is directly mentioned (as it is done so rarely in modern ads) or not. Advertisers must also make sure, if they begin to utilize extremely brief ads, that the message and product are clear, for with the extremely reduced time, the audience should still be reached.

I believe that the point and fact of product placement, a covert means to advertise products, with testimonials and endorsement, is ruined if the government forces TV shows to reveal the fact that there is product placement. I believe that advertisers who use product placement are utilizing a more covert and indirect means to advertise their products, and if they are forced to reveal their actions, the subtlety required for product placement will be destroyed. Though requiring TV shows to have disclaimers about the product being advertisement does actually act as more advertising, viewers and audiences will become frustrated with the fact that they are being advertised to and marketers will lose a valuable venue for marketing.