GroupM’s global chairman, Irwin Gotlieb, has warned brands that if they ignore top of the funnel marketing, they are “sowing the seeds of their own destruction”.
Speaking at the Future of TV Advertising conference in Sydney this morning, the ad buyer with the biggest chequebook in the game said he wasn’t in Australia just for kicks, but to help ensure a single buying platform for addressable TV became a reality.
To illustrate his point, Gotlieb said if you had never been exposed to the Mercedes brand until you’re 39, then you’re unlikely to suddenly decide to buy one when you’re specifically targeted.
Gotlieb also worried about the damage being done to brands largely because young people were not watching TV.
“We have raised a generation of Millennials with no exposure to top of the funnel marketing, and instead morally questionable communications strategy,” he said.
“I worry deeply about native advertising and the blurring of the lines between genuine editorial and advertising.”
More to come.
