In a world overloaded with information, not only the form of advertising must change, but the characteristics of its content.
The mass media are undergoing a process of transformation that for the general public is manifested mainly in a greater variety of options in terms of editorial content, both informative, opinion or entertainment, such as musical, sports, cinematographic, documentary, etc..
For the observer more interested in technical aspects, it is interesting to closely follow the development that modifies the way of reproducing material as well as the way of making it reach mass audiences. Pre - press, video filming and audio in digital formats; high definition television and broadband transmission are some examples.
Technology also gives rise to new means of communication, some of which play multiple roles. Like the internet, which is at the same time a medium to advertise and a content channel that needs to advertise in other media to generate an audience, not to mention its roles as a seller and distribution channel for products and services.
Technologically we have reached a conjunction in which it is difficult to separate what we originally called a computer or computer, from what we still call television; just as it is difficult to separate entertainment from work.
In the United States, a digital device is capable of storing television programming in such a form and quantity that it allows, in fact, to interact with the television transmission in much the same way as surfing the world wide web. In Great Britain, the success of interactive television opens up a promising future for the rest of the world.
In addition, with and without technology, more and more spaces are used as advertising vehicles, saturating our lives.
Saturation and interactivity are two appropriate terms to refer to the state of affairs and both will have a dramatic effect on advertising, a phenomenon that has been inseparable from the mass media until now.
To understand the immediate future of the mass media, we must refer to the transformation that public transport underwent at the beginning of the last century, when the commercialization of the automobile gave rise to mechanized transport losing its eminently massive character to begin to be conveniently individual.
When moving between their home and place of work, people used a means of collective transport, which they could board and leave a few blocks from their destination, within certain hours, momentarily sharing it with other people whose interests were similar, blocks more, blocks less.
The automobile allowed the individual to travel on his own schedule to precise destinations, with enormous appeal. Although not decisive, since there are advantages that allow collective transport to survive.
In the near future television, to mention the mass media par excellence, will be individual, allowing the user to precisely program the content and avoiding having to address collective programs that are broadcast on a certain channel during a certain time, shared with other people whose interests are more or less similar.
In the same way that we drive our car independently, we will have complete freedom to program the television content we want to receive.
Let's say that on a particular night we program our television channel from 9:15 to 10:45 including 15 minutes of news, 30 of soap operas, 25 of sports and 20 of our favorite series. I doubt that many people take exactly this same route, at this same time and in this same order.
I also highly doubt that anyone would decide to schedule fifteen minutes of commercial messages. What then is the future of advertising?
Just as mass transportation has not disappeared, neither will open television or advertising disappear in the face of the threat of pay television, interactive television, broadband or TiVo.
However, to stand out in a world overloaded with interactive information, you will have to change not only the form of advertising, but the characteristics of your content. To achieve your goal of delivering a basic message to a specific audience, advertising must have six values.
Lightness, going from the heavy and complex, to the agile and simple.
Speed, presenting a quickly understandable message.
Accuracy, both in terms of the personality of the brand it promotes, and in the use of the language and visual elements of the message.
Visibility, to stand out from the ordinary by highlighting the uniqueness.
Multiplicity of interpretation of symbols, as well as multiplicity of the means to get the message across.
Consistency between the different messages and media of the same campaign.
Not surprisingly, these values have been proposed to add value to the literary work of the 21st century by Harvard literature professor Italo Calvino. They are directly applicable to advertising because the language of words and symbols is their main tool. This was emphasized by Teófilo Marcos, formerly of the Spanish agency Contrapunto, in 1995 when he related Calvino's literary proposal to the demand that the transformation of the media imposes on advertising creativity.
For the public, advertising will continue to be a popular art form, always enjoyable, providing rational, emotional and visceral information to choose wisely.
For the advertiser, advertising will continue to be a way to ethically persuade the public and build brand loyalty, but subject to a more precise measurement of results, in terms of perceptions.
And advertising will continue to be what until today, synonymous with freedom of choice.
