Evolution of advertising has created a greater propensity for errors – Basamta
By Zion Rufus
Against the backdrop of how the internet has revolutionized advertising in the most astounding way, marketing communications professional, Lanre Basamta has stated that the fact that advertising as we know it has changed, has now created a greater propensity for errors.
Addressing these errors in an interview with MARKETING EDGE, Basamta explained that “Not only has this evolution changed the way ads are broadcast, it has also changed the way consumers act towards them; because now, everything is seen as communication, everything is seen as advertising, and sadly, there isn’t enough time to research, review, adapt, and adopt.”
Advertising, which primarily began on newspapers and magazines in the mid-19th century, has since evolved beyond traditional mediums like print and television; overtime, the advertising landscape has rapidly shifted, backed by continuous changes in the environment of digital and social media. With diverse channels and more than 6 billion smartphone users in the world, platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and many more are available for brands to constantly deliver advertising contents as consistent and engaging content impacts audience decision-making more than any other technique.
“Of course, our work today is more fragmented,” Basamta stated, “Before, an organization running campaigns may do one or two adverts in a month, if they are not running a particular promotional or awareness campaign; but today, because the channels are varied, every day, organizations are sending communications out, to their customers, and so, they don’t have all the time, to validate, verify, or research, any advertising work, so few things fall through the crack and quality and standard suffer.”
He continued: “Unlike in the 90s and early 2000s, the audience today has been empowered, they make up their minds in one direction and you find that all of the attention will follow in that direction until somebody or a movement flow into another school of thought and redirects the tide. The awareness and empowerment of the audiences could direct the tide of your communication.”
“But in a world where the whole concept of advertising is now more dynamic, you don’t have structured adverts like that, everything you put out on your channels are adverts, the things you send as email marketing are now seen as adverts, even down to the things you put in your office to welcome people, all are now seen as adverts.”
In his conclusion, the marketing expert pointed out that the evolution of advertising has also caused a brand disconnect.
“Today, for the big brands, their marketing communications are developed in the boardrooms, or in the boardrooms of their agencies, and you’ll find that what digital media has given us instead of fusing us with the customer, it has separated us more. What we used to find that in the 90s, most of the retail products will typically do their adverts in the open market, and although those ads and communications were not based on facts, many of them mirrored the sentiments of their target audiences, and so it wasn’t very difficult for those adverts to resonate. They were relatable, believable, and people naturally associated with them. But today, adverts are created in boardrooms, strategy rooms, and there is little or no time to do all the necessary research that should have been done because brands today are more disconnected than they used to be.”
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.