When I tell people, “I help companies target consumers with the right advertising at the right time”, the usual response is: “OH. You’re the reason I’m being followed around the internet. I hate that sort of advertising”.
An ex-colleague of mine once said: “Ads are for poor people”. I disagree. We are never going to live in a world with no ads, no matter how much money we have. Think about your journey to work, when you head out for a run, or simply getting ready for your day to begin – how many ads are you exposed to on billboards, radio, and browsing on the internet? A lot. No amount of money will eradicate advertising.
The question is, would consumers truly want no ads? How would consumers be able to access the internet for free? How would people know of the latest products that are most relevant to them? How can we access what we want, and when it is most relevant for us? It may not have seemed this way in the past, but advertising could enhance people’s lives, bring fulfilment or at the very least, support a need in a specific moment. I may be biased, given my career choice, but I do believe advertising has an important role to play – not just to fund the content we want to consume – but to bring value.
And for the advertisers themselves, how would they understand more about their audiences? What would happen to everyone who resides in the (m)adtech industry?! Most importantly how would content be funded?
Let’s dig a little deeper: