Tuesday, October 24, 2006

New Agendas in Advertising.

This is the the first of many posts regarding the conference that will be held in Austin, TX this coming November 17 and 18, sponsored by The University of Texas and GSD&M. What is this conference all about? Well, that's an interesting question. We've been discussing and building this conference for months now, and we have some insanely awesome speakers, amazing venues and an incredible agenda. What I myself havent done often enough, though, is take a step back and try and think about what this conference is really about.

To me, we are talking about the future, which is really yesterday. Advertising has so many new faces it's hard to recognize it anymore. That funny video on YouTube you saw the other day from an email forward might have been created by an agency looking to promote a product without making an ad. Gotcha!

Many people talk about advertising boiling down to a simple human truth, sparking emotion in the consumer. Well, the consumer is smarter, and he can do things on his own. So can she. So how do we reach them? We need to think of new ways to evolve these emerging media (a new medium for communication was just invented. And another one. And another one, etc) so that we can reach the consumers and make them feel as if they are a part of a something. Nobody wants to watch an ad, but do people mind experiencing one?

So we have new media, and smarter consumers. Another emerging trend in the industry is advertising education. How do we teach future industry people the industry? How do we teach ourselves? With things evolving daily, it has become impossible to figure out what to teach and how to teach it. Things I learned yesterday may be dated already. Still, we are working hard to evolve our learning and doing a good job of it, I think. Case in point: this conference.

It will be educational and inspirational. We will have men like Keith Reinhard, Bob Garfield and Joseph Jaffe talking about this, along with new, emerging industry stars. You don't want to miss it.

P.S. more new media was just invented.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Brad,
Why do a conference on advertising anyhow? At the end of the day it is – at best – simply an adjunct to our economic system and is seen by many to have little redeeming social value. The work is done to serve the clients who commission the effort and many hardly considered it a serious art form or honest expression. And is there theory – theory that supports the practice - so that it is, in fact, a valid academic endeavor and not a trade school skill?

Yet, advertising is an endeavor where stuff seems to converge. Technology, cultural values, a desire for control by the consumer in a world so out of control all play a role in this transformation. Voices ignored are now – via the you-tubes and podcasts and wikis – supplanting traditional media in their diversity and consumption. In a tightly controlled milieu where Milton Berle came on Tuesdays at 8 PM and legal 30’s ruled – one can now see one’s favorites when and where desired and easily create commercial expressions that are more believable and celebrated than the offerings from the media enterprises that once controlled viewers, listeners and readers. And, the change has happened quickly and the speed with which it continues makes every moment yesterday. This shifting of time, place and control in a business built on the structure of these dimensions is fascinating – particularly so if that endeavor is the way in which one chooses to make a living.

Thus, “Chaos 2006: New Agendas in Advertising” came into being. Some of the greats will talk with us as well as the new hot leaders who redefine not only the practice but also the underlying principles that guide it. I think it’s a hell of a Conference – but in the spirit of blog candor and honesty you should know I am the Chair of the Conference and after too many beers one night and reading Bob Garfield’s article called Chaos thought of the idea.

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