At the iMedia Summit earlier last week, Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future gave an insightful presentation about the future of media and brands. One of the main comments to stand out was his belief that brands and businesses shouldn’t expect to make as much money as they used to from people. In fact he went as far as saying that many companies should feel lucky that they got away with extorting customers for so long.
Using the music industry and album sales as an example, Jeffrey said that of the 400 he had brought over the years he probably only wanted 2 or 3 songs off each. Thus paying a hell of a lot of money for extra music he didn’t need.
This is obviously more than just a case of technology or the web making things leaner, quicker, or personalised, it relates to people’s expectations. We are essentially experiencing a realigning of values and attitudes towards brand’s and their advertising.
You could go as far as saying that brands should deal with the fact that they might not make as much money as they used to and actually invest money in activity that doesn’t directly equate to a monetary value- almost selling without selling. Tough one to show in the annual report but that does bother Joe Public. I’m not quite sure where this ramble is going but it was an interesting thought worth noting.
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