Propelling The Call for a Creative Renaissance in Online Advertising
Randall Rothenberg, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, has called for a “creative renaissance” on the Internet, which he said has been “an unthinking hostage to a direct-marketing culture and tradition that devalues creativity and its long-term effect on brands.” (Adage)
Impressiveness never goes unnoticed, and we have seen that time and again on the web in the rise and fall of web assets. This is the same with advertising on any media, Zoozoo’s certainly being a worthy and recent example. Again, this isn’t a post on creative freedom and how brands need to look beyond numbers on the web, far from it. This is a post questioning the creative strength of the digital marketing men and women in India (on a general note).
The point being mooted is that creative work online – whether they be banner ads, PPC copies, newsletters, web design or web content – don’t quite match up to the standards required for ads to perform on the web. Sure there might be good one’s but they are exceptions than a rule more often than not. More than a lack of talent or skill, this can be purely attributed to a general lack of the required infrastructure and tutelage and an honest effort to hone potentials into creative vehicles churning out brilliance.
Of course from a creative house perspective, there is the perennial complaint of brands not shelving enough to foster creativity. And that’s an understandable problem, however, now when brands seem more willing to allocate higher numbers to digital media maybe this point loses its sheen. Again, as evangelists and aware members of this eco system, it is upon us to go the extra mile and make innovation happen. Such efforts will lead to better performance thereby elicit more responses and in general make online advertising more efficient. We all stand to gain by that.
Lack of investment in creative pursuits again is not the core matter at hand. I believe that even if higher tags are put on creative skills, say graphic designing for instance, it might not push up the degree of creativeness the web demands. This is because the investment required is not in skill sets, rather it is required in the mindsets of the creative folk.
The web might not be a special medium but it for sure is an unique medium unlike the similarity that tend to exist between say print and television. It creates unique habits among its users, and it creates subsets of behavioral tendencies among them. This in turn means that any advertising or marketing effort needs to tailor itself to these points pertaining to the users. To understand this one needs to understand the web and study how it impacts people. It is not CSS or Javascripts, it is not Flash or Silverlight, rather it is understanding human behaviour that needs studying. Just like it is not the camera that rather the script that makes ads on television work.
In such a scenario, the onus of advertising on the web actually begins to fall on the shoulders of publishers. They need to create content that engages people enough that they begin to spend time online. The more time that is spent, the more observation creative beings can make and they can then bring out better ads. If India as an advertising destination can perform well to a certain extent in traditional media is because of the impact had on the society. The web needs to follow suit.
In that context one can go back to the point of lack of infrastructure and how mass adoption is required and that is where the challenge really lies. True but only to an extent. The fact is that the 60 odd million Indians who are online, we are not doing enough to satisfy them. TV in India didn’t happen overnight, for many years there was just one channel seen on Black and White screens, but advertising and good ones at that happened then. It is their performance and impact that led to its adoption by brands.
Digital media needs to create such an impact. It needs a creative renaissance. It needs an epoch making season.
Again, even though I dismissed the skill set and technology knowledge earlier as secondary to mindset training, its role can definitely not be underplayed. Technology gives wings to imagination, it drives the functions that creativity carves and makes actions happen. Here again, publishers online must take the lead in making knowledge accessible and investing in technology (read standards) themselves.
Digital Media is a huge canvas, but that doesn’t mean you need bigger brushes, rather it calls for you to have a bigger vision. As children of this media it is upon us to not only safeguard its core virtues but also stretch its inherent strength. This medium needs a fresh approach, a fresh perspective with nimble feet and we all need to be in this together.
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Fantastic post Maneesh! You are bang on. Hope the Advertisers and the so called Interactive Ad agencies in India will focus on this rather than dust negotiation the rates on CPC or CPL
Cheers
Santosh
e7networks
Maneesh, Nice to read your article, we think alike. Infact, checkout http://www.buzzar.tv, and you will find that it reflects your wish for a renaissance in digital advertising. However, since it does not follow the prevailing rules of the game (CPM / CPC etc)most agencies are reluctant to take the effort to understand and make use of it