OTW Blog

Hope to see this in the near future – reckon it will come to Enzed?

Creativity wasn’t always treated as a precious commodity. Art & Copy shows that, until the 1960s, ads were relatively dull and flavorless. “Creatives” were viewed as slaves and peons while the gray-suited Roger Sterling types took all the glory.

It wasn’t until William Bernbach, the first rock star of Madison Avenue, put his copywriter in the same room as the art director that creative professionals found their stride and modern advertising truly came to life. Ads began to deliver a more emotional impact; they began to show a sense of humor or, in the case of Bernbach’s famous 1959 “Think Small” campaign for the Volkswagen Beetle, humility.

Read the full review on Wired here.

It’s the 800 lb gorilla of the advertising industry.

Check out this graphic from thestandard.com:

Not the public impression Google really likes to give is it? Google Wave, Reader, Groups, Sites, Search, Youtube, Orkut, Mail, Blogger all push the brand, while back at home in the factory Google has become a giant of the advertising world.

No wonder online advertising started to cut TV’s lunch in the UK last month, the first major Western economy where television’s share of the advertising dollar has been surpassed by the internet.

But are we worried about the threat to outdoor advertising? Hell no, quite the opposite as this report shows:

“Traditional media platforms like television, radio and newspapers, are operating under tremendous pressure in the current economic recession. However, outdoor advertising segment is expected to register a strong growth in the coming years. After online advertising segment, the outdoor advertising segment has been the most dynamic in recent years. Outdoor advertising has been capturing share of advertising from television, radio, and newspaper.

The adoption of digital technology is driving growth of outdoor segment. Digital outdoor technology combines the traditional strengths of outdoor with unique targeting opportunities. Another key reason behind rapid growth of outdoor advertising is the low cost of this medium compared with the more expensive advertising mediums.

The United States has one of the highest growth rates in the outdoor advertising market. China has also registered remarkable growth in outdoor advertising market in recent years. The share of Chinese outdoor spending of the total advertising spend, is several times the world average.”

The killer campaign has to be the one that combines a highly targeted ‘pay per click’ advert (say on the web); the vital, contextual communication and stimulus (the billboard on the way to work); and the opportunity to participate (now exemplified by mobile). Advertising’s never been more exciting.

Just don’t get caught with that mobile in your hands while you’re driving by our billboards

It is with amazement that we now hear the word ‘billion’ mentioned in NZ government and political circles with regularity – a billion dollar stimulus package; a billion dollars on roads; a billion dollars of debt, companies with market caps of billions, NZ tax receipts short of forecast by half a billion dollars.

We found this great graphic on a blog we follow called Information is Beautiful that pictures what billions of dollars look like in a global sense.

You can see the full-size one by clicking here.

Hmmm – seems like online advertising hasn’t quite sunk the offline modes just yet.