Over the past 10 years we’ve seen the industrial revolution of advertising. Broadband gave hundreds of millions near-instant access to information and entertainment, and mobile allowed them to take that content with them. It’s no surprise then that we’ve seen an almost incomprehensible amount of content move to digital.

In the advertising world, this has meant the development of an incredible amount of infrastructure, but the focus has been on the mechanics: ad format innovation, new measurement methodology, more efficient buying and optimisation techniques. Innovation has focused on the building blocks, but what comes next will be incredible…

In many ways, we’re seeing a shift back to the golden age of advertising: TV was the undisputable mass-communication tool and the creativity and innovation was captured in the 30-second spot. I believe, we’re about to see creativity take centre stage once more. The craft of designing incredible campaigns will again be celebrated.

What’s exciting is that now creativity can be expressed so much more richly than what we saw in print and TV’s heydays. With the amazing infrastructure that has been built around digital in the past 10 years, advertisers will be able to engage directly with customers, bring incredible depth to the experiences they create and gain deep insight from the way people engage in those experiences.

Craft matters again and I can’t wait to see what amazing experiences are created in 2014.

 

Matt Sanchez, CEO, Say Media

Originally posted December 20 M&M Global