Ever feel exhausted when you come home from work? Feel like you’ve done too much thinking? You’re not alone. But Eric Faulkner, partner and chairman of Madclarity, thinks that we might not be thinking enough.
Last week I caught up with an old friend.
He was telling me that, the night before, the family had ordered some UberEats for dinner. His 14 year old son was doing the ordering and called across the room to his Dad, to ask for his phone number.
Not his Dad’s phone number. His own number.
When his Dad expressed amazement, he simply said: “I don’t need to know it.”
That’s exactly what has happened to our advertising business.
We don’t need to know stuff anymore.
There are machines and models to do all the thinking for us.
Buttons to press and directions given.
‘Marketing science’ theories to guide.
Analytics companies’ data to follow.
Agency deals to comply with and media channel shares to obey.
Nobody needs to think anymore.
Advertising has become a multiple-choice question.
Press a button, and with a little AI help, a video has been created, which will achieve a 3.6 in the Link Test.
Press a button on the agency’s Instagram Business Manager screen and select targeting, CPM or reach, without having a clue as to how … or even if … it will be achieved.
Press another button and with a little help from a work-experience 16-year-old, a 60-page PowerPoint is created to present it all to the client.
Fortunately… for Telstra and their agency… somebody forgot to send them the memo.