Weekly
Digest
#11
iHuman
In the proverbial question of chicken and egg, what came first: a product/service designed to cater to human need or need that results from product development? We’re seeing a shift from creating for what humans want and need to creating against the limits of technology just to see what is possible. For example, a hairbrush that uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to tell you if you’re brushing too hard. Similarly, on top of the sheer existence of drones alone, do we need a $1,600 drone umbrella whose battery life is 30 minutes? We’ve lost our touch when it comes to keeping humans at the center of technological advancement.
Certainly modern society has needs that didn’t exist in decades prior and for that, technology is a welcomed presence in our lives but in an effort to solve human problems, perhaps we’re creating more of them. Keyboards replaced typewriters and phones replaced cameras, but now we’re trapped in a selfie world with strained eyes, hunched shoulders, and probably carpel tunnel. That’s not to say these advancements didn’t improve our daily lives or even better the human condition, but logical solutions can have unintended consequences and shouldn’t that be our cue to go back to the drawing board? When there are improvements to be made, isn’t that the time to test the limits of creation and technology?
For really great inventions to happen, ideas have to come from diverse and inclusive sources. All the brilliant engineers at Apple couldn’t talk their way out of this blunder. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the vacuum of creation and forget the why along the way, but that one’s on us to fix. No amount of artificial intelligence, algorithms, or technology can substitute for human emotional intelligence.
Click Happy
The click is dead. Or at the very least, we’re all tired of being slaves to it: being asked to do it, measuring how much people have done it, and so on and so on. The reality is, we’ve reached a point where both the thinking and product of the advertising industry are built around the click when really, click-through rates give us data that may or may not be valuable in the first place. This issue of click-dependency persists with banners as well.
Our reliance on click-through rates has trapped us in an outdated model of creating, one in which we ask the consumer to validate our advertising efforts with their desire to “click here” or “learn more.” But in 2017, couldn’t we do more? The modern advertising landscape offers richer and broader experiences, which in the end, gives consumers a greater sense of confidence in brands and brings good sentiment back to advertising as a whole.
So what are these new formats that don’t rely solely on the click? There’s AI that’s sweeping the industry and giving brands an unprecedented ability to mimic the capabilities of the human brain. Virtual reality which is still finding its footing, but has already begun to make a splash with brands like Qantas who created a 360 degree island experience, Renault that lets you see into the future, or Jaguar who has a new take on virtual reality.
But if you don’t have the fancy budgets for AI, VR or long-form video, you can still adopt a fresh format with creative takes on the classics, like print. Toyota, L.L. Bean, and McDonald’s have turned a would-be-boring medium like print into out-of-the-box executions. Whatever your approach, perhaps this post-click era can bring a return to what has always been at the heart of good advertising: creativity.
Interested in the newest ad formats popping up around the industry? We’re keeping you up to date with the latest addition to the Weekly Digest, aptly called “Fresh Formats,” down below!
Photo credits: Michael Prewett (top post) and Christopher Burns (bottom post)
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