If I tell you to think of advertising, it depends on which generation you’re from as to what you might immediately picture. You’ll probably either think of things such as newspapers and magazines, or you’ll think of Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram (well, Meta these days), and other digital channels such as email and Google.
Thanks to the boomtown that is everything mobile (and technology that enables high-quality streaming on the go), we’re relying less and less on print media for our own information and entertainment. We’ve been fully weaned into the digital world now, to the extent that we all know and widely recognise that print media industries are dying. And they are, statistically. Like how video killed the radio star, and almost every other industry before it, the internet has (almost) killed the print star.
Digital marketing technologies have dominated marketing budgets now for well over a decade. Increasingly fickle consumers have shifted and shortened their attention – to short, easily consumable media and entertainment on demand. In turn, marketers have pivoted client investments from ‘traditional’ print media options and converted much of their available budgets to digital channel equivalents.
So you’re reading this, thinking yeah, yeah, yeah. This is why I keep hearing that ‘traditional’ advertising is now dead.
Except it isn’t.
With the huge upswing in digital advertising popularity across just about every business on the planet, it’s now an extremely crowded, competitive, and expensive place to advertise. Algorithmic changes are constantly throwing spanners in the works, and you need specialised staff (or agencies) to manage the constant howl for more content.
In short, if you’re relying on digital channels for 100% of your advertising and brand awareness, you may be missing a trick.
I’m not saying print outlets will have a huge eleventh-hour revival at this stage, but there are many more ways businesses can (and should!) advertise to get the most out of their marketing dollar. It will vary according to your industry, but sound business advice would probably tell you that you need a mixture of channels to ‘achieve cut-through’ (marketer speak for ‘getting your message to hit your target demographic, and actually sink in’).
Of course, I’m also talking about other forms of offline advertising – such as radio, streaming services, events, billboards (😉) and more. There will always be a place for all these traditional advertising methods – but only if they evolve according to market demands.
Think of Times Square in New York. For starters, it is only iconic because of its billboards – but these days, they are a far cry from what they used to look like! What used to be static images are now fully digital. They change, they adapt, they use cool lighting, timing, sequencing, and other ways to stay innovative and interesting. And they’re more effective (and popular with tourists and local consumers) than ever!
This is why we got into billboard advertising. I mean, I know Auckland hardly has a Times Square (which is a shame, really). But social media has made our attention spans short, and you might briefly see something on your newsfeed, but 99% of the time, you’ll flick straight past it and just continue to scroll. And you know what? Your customers are doing the exact same.
But a large-scale ad? If you’re sitting at a red traffic light on your way to or home from work, you’ll likely notice a digital billboard. It can far more effectively capture and hold attention these days than most online channels, and it’ll do wonders for your brand presence, awareness and prestige, to boot.
Traditional advertising isn’t dead, not by a long shot. And as time goes on, it just gets clearer that it never will be.
Allan Nicholson