IBM has released a fascinating report that heralds what it calls the end of advertising.  One of the more fascinating items in the report is the result that 11% of those surveyed would pay a small premium to have a service without advertising.  This …

The flip side is the power of visibility to trends as they begin. Remember when Mr. Gore’s son was ticketed going 100mph+ in a Prius? Overnight, as young Mr. Gore pondered his driving skills, that single event dramatically changed perceptions about Hybrids. No longer are they viewed unable to compete on performance. In this case, positive buzz about an entire category of products was kick started across Brands. Honda gained as much as Toyota. Smart Marketers interact with Consumers on an ongoing basis and roll campaigns taking advantage of events as they happen. Consumers create trends- Not Brands. Brands attempt to shape trends through advertising in the hope Consumers validate them at the cash register.

As a guitar player, I admit I’m interested in Fender and Gibson ads. Once my brand / product affinity is revealed, Marketers need answers to important questions: In what formats do I want my content served? Which versions of their Ads? What intervals? What is the tipping point between amusing and annoying? To know me and what I want, Brands must interact and challenge my thinking by posing the right questions. Most importantly, what will prompt me to pop for that $2500 Sunburst Reverse Firebird VII?

Given the opportunity, Consumers are more than happy to provide insights into what content they like, particularly as it relates to their interests and Brands. Consumer-influenced campaigns targeted at “communities of interest” will consistently deliver the highest returns on media spend.

About the Author: Michael Campbell is CEO of Mukti Inc., a start up developing BuzzCurve.com, the Media Intelligence Platform for Marketers.

I’ll go on the record, ads are going away in less than 2 years, it’ll all be permission based content…btw MA, I made this comment at the FOWA conference in Sept 2006 and you put me down, saying “you have to run a business”.

….. in

So many of these predictions are generated by nervous-nelly corporations, scared of their own shadows and dreading the next technological advances. They fail to see the big picture, though, that ingrained ways of doing things tend to persist a lot longer than these histrionic Nostradamuses would guess…

The example of television co-existing with radio comes to mind. IMHO, the major brands will likely adapt to micro-marketing, but I’m less sure of the future role of traditional advertising and PR firms.

The leap-of-faith investment model — with huge production budgets — simply doesn’t translate well to the online realm, where frugal folks measure everything relative to meaningful ROI performance.

This is why all forms of future advertising will be typically found in content. Self service niche ad marketplaces like our own will enable advertisers and content producers to DIY.

Its nice to have all your hunches fleshed out into so much detail!

Of course, if IBM has published a report on it, its common knowledge. Reality will play out somewhat differently. Sort of like how the theory of relativity says that the act of observation changes the observed.

What blows my mind is how the big media and advertising players are still acting like they have their heads in the sand.

Blazing fast video search:

http://www.meet...earchVideo.aspx