Want To Get Into Advertising? Learn Some Math And Anthropology

Predictions

from the changing-times dept

Earlier this week, we discussed the pending demise of the 30-second TV commercial. There was an interesting comment in the original article that we didn’t touch on, however. The reporter looks at how the advertising world is changing and states: “the art of advertising is turning into the science of advertising. Agencies now need math guys.” Now, a Wired article about the future of the ad industry has a different suggestion, saying that the ad industry is in need of anthropologists who can better understand social networks and how viral ideas flow. Both are probably true — and both show how far the advertising industry has to change. Obviously, there still needs to be a focus on creativity — but rather than just throwing stuff out there to see what sticks, the next generation of advertising is going to involve a much better understanding of what happens to the message after it leaves the agency. While that might be tough on some traditional advertising types, it means there’s actually a tremendous opportunity for folks to reinvent what advertising is, getting away from the tired old ideas of intrusive, annoying “pitches” into something that’s much more compelling, interesting, useful and effective.