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Crappy things to look forward to in 2008! 

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Yes... It's that time of the year again when everyone is making forecasts on where the ad biz will be in 2008. Now Leo Burnett in Britain has decided to make a few daft and not so daft predictions.

You can read their full list as posted by Piers on PSFK, here. Most of them make some kind of minimal sense, the one that makes me maddest though, is the one called, "Screen Saturation," where they claim that in the coming year will see the explosion of screen-based media, with screens on the side of buses, in petrol stations, supermarkets, loos and just about everywhere.

As I say in my next book "The Ubiquitous Persuaders," we are exposed to too much advertising as it is... That's why it's becoming increasingly ineffective. God forbid everything ends up like a scene from "Blade Runner" where it was impossible to escape from projected images on just about everything. But, if you're a robot, I suppose you don't care.

 

Published Jan 20 2008, 11:05 PM by George Parker
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Comments

by Bill Britt
January 21, 2008 9:19 AM
 
Brands as guardians? Burnett has got to be kidding. The idea that consumers will turn to brands to look after them and make their lives better is risible. People should be turning to friends, family, God, the community or the state if they are looking for a guardian. Tony the Tiger is not a fit consumer guardian nor is Kellogg’s with its scary sounding “Three step Progam”.
 
 
by charlie robertson
January 21, 2008 11:27 AM
 
I like the idea of screens on bus sides to brighten up grey days and dark nights on run down suburban streets
 
 
by Jacquie Bowser
January 21, 2008 12:08 PM
 
I don't really mind if they start putting more screens up around the place with advertising but as you say George, there already is a hell of a lot of advertising out there and I know I ignore a lot of it. I completely overlook most ads on web pages and just focus in on the editorial i'm after. Same goes with newspapers - I feel like I'm a racing horse with those blinkers on the side of my eyes - I only look at the articles or photos, never the ads. I'm accustomed to skimming over the ads like they were brussel sprouts on my dinner plate. So if people start putting screens up in supermarkets I think I would continue to do the same thing that I do when reading the paper or searching the web - I'd focus on what food I need to buy and mostly ignore any blatant advertising that's thrown in my face. I'm not saying that I can shield out all ads of course, but I definitely don't take a lot of them in.
 
 
by Alex Donohue
January 21, 2008 3:38 PM
 
I agree it's the sheer quantity of ads that's the problem - you just end up switching off completely. Most of the stuff I receive through the post, email etc is of no relevance to me, so I'm less inclined to pay attention in the future. As a consumer, it's nice to get something occassionally that shows the brand has thought about your tastes and interests. I don't think I've ever clicked on a banner ad, except by accident. And what about those ads that follow your cursor around the screen and take up half the page, you know the ones...How incredibly irritating!
 
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MadScam

An ex-pat Brit's "Take-no-Prisoners" look at the current American ad scene in all its horror and desperation!
 

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George Parker

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MadScam

Member since: 03 Jun 2008

Last login: 17 Nov 2009

Total Posts: 831

 
 
 
 

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