Mark Twain once remarked that when he was a boy of 14, his father was so ignorant, he could hardly stand to be around the old man. But when Twain became 21, he was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. The author’s humorous sentiments about his own intellectual growth seem to me to be an apt metaphor for our relationship with technology. Take the Internet: It’s a lot like the old man—ever present and available to be understood anew. And we, like the young man, redefine our understanding of it through time and experience.
In technology, new ideas spawn new words. There was a time not long ago when industry buzzwords such as convergence, click-through rates and content integration assaulted my ears like humming gnats. Annoying. Subliminal. And relentless. But once I began to understand these new words, the net’s potential to transform our media experience, and perhaps our lives, seemed astonishing.
Dreaming of the way advertising may be conducted in the future leads me to believe that things are about to get a whole lot more interesting—for agencies and consumers alike.
HARDWARE
Actual change for agency creatives will happen soon, but this change is waiting for the physical tools to be developed. First, technologies like digital TV, quantum-speed data lines, and super-fast computers will have to be in widespread use. Then we’ll require a consolidation of technologies, essentially eliminating the need for such separate hardware boxes as computer, TV, telephone, and fax. (Yes, I know, the Pocket Pilot gadget purists among you scoff at the idea. But it’s already happening.) I think Larry Ellison at Oracle was right: In the not-so-distant future you will have one interactive "media appliance" which does it all.
SOFTWARE
When this happens, the dam will break, agency creative output will suddenly be set free, and you can say goodbye to commercials as we know them. Gone will be the one-way television experience. Interactive will rule. And the line between program content and commercial messages will be obscured.
Imagine that you could click on the show you’re watching and find out more about a product. Let’s suppose my wife and I are watching Survivor 17: On Mars. We’re bored with the present story, but we know we can click on those nifty hiking boots that the character Murray is wearing. With the click of a mouse, we can access a sub-show featuring the shoes in a completely new context—a commercial context. Then we can go on a journey of sorts within that commercial/ program, into worlds upon worlds, a matrix of interesting places, designed specifically for us. We can take a walk around the Martian landscape and experience full 3-D and surround-sound realism. We can see what snorkeling feels like on Mars. We can take a Mars Lander on a simulation test drive. With another click of the mouse, we can purchase a product, then resume watching the show.
The day is coming when agency copywriters will be writing program content. I’ll bet I’m not alone when I say that commercials are frequently more interesting than the programs they’re sponsoring. Come on, with an honest show of hands: Who would rather watch a short film/commercial starring the Budweiser Lizards than Just Shoot Me? Who would prefer viewing "The Making Of: Traktor’s Discovery.com Commercials" over Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Put your paws in the air if you’d like to see extended versions of Chiat’s "Levi’s Engineered" spots by Gus Gus, instead of Dawson’s Creek.
ELSEWHERE
Very soon we’ll all be able to determine the content of our media experience. Since everyone will be able to filter out unwanted noise, the challenge is going to be creating program/ads which are of real interest to the particular target group. For my money, humor is going to be the tone of choice—because without it I can imagine a future which becomes a cold and impersonal Orwellian media trip. Should this happen, there would be no need to panic. We’d simply head into our bio-holographic machines and re-live our mothers cradling us in their arms. Whew.
