The Internet of Things can be good for traditional advertising

IOT and traditional advertising

‘Advertising is dead’, ‘nobody watches television anymore’ have been familiar canards of recent years.  Neither of those statements is remotely true: people watch a great deal of TV (more than any European country - albeit often on catch-up - and there is slim evidence of massive ad skipping).  But it has been the dominant narrative of the digital age, as enthusiasm for digital messaging grows and more and more devious ways are found to insert messages into every corner of our daily life.

Yet most will agree that advertisements were creatively more engaging, wittier, more moving, generally more appealing in the pre-digital past when they were the only communication vehicle. Even my tiny grandchildren have inherited ‘favourites’ from their parents who watch the occasional collected top 100 best ads with great enthusiasm and nostalgia.

In those days, to be sure, a great deal of junk was created as in every era and every medium, but the ones that we remember were characterised not just by wit or emotion or sheer chutzpah, but because they positioned and defined their brands rather than merely urging us to buy.  Think of Andrex, Heineken, Persil, Oxo, After Eight, Smash, Nike, Apple, BMW, Guinness, Gold Blend, Coke, Marlboro and many more: layers of personality, charm, clarity of focus, constancy. In the household FMCG and drinks world of near product parity, advertising took a product and magically transformed it into a brand. Manufacturers make products but consumers buy brands.

In recent years Les Binet and Peter Field produced the definitive analysis of how advertising works based on 20+ years of IPA Effectiveness Awards – the most scrupulously evidenced awards programme in the world. There were many useful findings but the key finding was the one that clarified communication roles: advertising was most effective for strategic, long term positioning while digital messaging of various kinds was most effective as short term and tactical.  

I don’t feel the communications world has truly acknowledged this fundamental distinction.  Without long term, constantly reinforced strategic positioning, products rarely turn into brands - which means rarely achieve premium pricing and rarely achieve lasting loyalty.

Why is this important now?
Michael Bayler, in the coming March issue of Market Leader, argues for a startling possibility. The theme is the evolution of successive waves of technology culminating in the current manifestation, the Internet of Things (IoT). As he points out, this is gaining momentum and consuming the interest of manufacturers wondering how they can adapt the technology of algorithms and sensors to their brands.

Bayler describes the post-digital possibilities for the humble FMCG brand in a thoroughly plausible scenario. But perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this evolution is the reduced need for the intrusive digital messages that so dominate and clutter the communication environment. If in the IoT future, brands come to virtually re-order themselves, the need to constantly nag people into buying becomes less relevant.

What becomes much more relevant and necessary is the strategic positioning communication – always best done through visual media – TV or cinema or online. Evocative, witty, emotionally rewarding moving pictures – watchable and shareable.

Bayler makes the further point that the very utility promised by the sort of intelligent services suggested by the IoT will provide brands with entirely fresh models of consumer benefit, ones that in themselves can inform and refresh bigger, bolder and more engaging ads.

Will it happen? 
I most certainly hope so. Read more in the next issue of Market Leader.

Read more from Judie in our Clubhouse.

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