The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers _ Adweek

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 1/15

Advertisement

Subscribe to Adweek Adweek Blog Network: TVNewser | TVSpy | LostRemote | AgencySpy | PRNewser | SocialTimes | FishbowlNY | FishbowlDC | GalleyCat

What Will Kids Watch Next?Our look at youth andmedia, presented byNickelodeon

Subscribe to AdweekGet a full year of printand tablet editions forjust $99

Wizard of AwwwsThis blind girlʹs vision ofa Hollywood classic istruly charming

Headlines: Press: Emotional and Effective, Upwor… TV: Lady Gaga Won the Oscars on Tw… Tech: Here's How Google Instantly Bu… Ads & Brands: Reebok Is Quietly Emerging as …

Advertisement

February 16, 2015, 12:00 AM EST Advertising & Branding

More than ever, itʹs aboutauthentic and compelling stories By KeithReinhard

The Future of Advertising Still Rests onthe Art of Connecting Brands and

Consumers

Search

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 2/15

Featured JobsSocial Media Strategist

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 3/15

A few months back, someone in the pages of Adweek suggested that, given all thechanges technology has brought us, we need to redefine advertising.

I disagree. Advertising has always been about connecting brands with people. Itstill is. But today we know a lot more about the people with whom we want to connect andalmost every day we're given new tools to help us make those connections. Plus, now, if wedo it right, those folks we actually engage will connect with each other and with all theirfriends to help us build a whole community of brand fans and activists. We've always saidthat word of mouth is the best medium of all. Augmented by word of Web, it's even better.

There's no question that the advertising industry has changed dramatically. But its purposeis still the same. And while we obsess about all the changes, it behooves advertisers toremember the basics that haven't changed and won't. Chief among these nonchanges ishuman nature itself—the obsessive drives that motivate the people we're trying to influence.As they always have and always will, people seek brands that will help them survive, helpthem succeed and help them take care of their own. They want brands that will help them beloved and admired and that will, in some way, enrich or improve their lives.

Although I'm no longer involved in the daytoday business, someone recently asked mehow I see the advertising industry evolving. As a response, I suggested we define a periodbetween 1950 and, let's say 2030, and then divide it into three unequal parts.

Beginning in the '50s, we had the "Creative Revolution" inspired and led by Bill Bernbach,who broke all the rules that had been established by the early high priests of advertising.During this period we learned to respect the intelligence of the consumer, how to engagepeople with humor, irony, wit and emotion. We learned the importance of craft and thepower of a welltold story.

How Lego DesignedIts Own Oscar andStole the Show

Why We're All SoStoked for the '90s

BrandShare ContentWatch This: How to

Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA

Experienced Account ExecutiveHencove Marketing LLCBoston Metro Area, MA

Audience Analyst (Performance & DataAnalyst) PHXMcMurry/TMGPhoenix, AZ

Account ManagerNew York Daily NewsNew York, NY

Freelance Reporter/StringerPresidentialCampaignsWhoWhatWhy.orgNew York, NY

See More Jobs »

Editor's Picks

People seek brands that help them survive and succeed. | Illustration: Oliver Munday

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 4/15

All this turned out to be a better way than relentlessly pounding unique selling propositionsinto people's heads. Mindless repetition was just one of the tactics favored by those who hadgone before.

Then, at the end of the last century, came the "Digital Disruption" during which advertiserswere given amazing new tools to help make those allimportant consumer connections.Mountains of data helped advertisers better understand and more precisely locate theirprospects. Digital messiahs proclaimed the end of Madison Avenue, and at times it seemedthe obsession with technology was diverting attention from the basics. I was often remindedof what Henry David Thoreau said at the end of another century: "Men have become thetools of their tools." I feared that we sometimes did things just because we could, notbecause they were right. Had the digital disruption turned into a digital distraction?

But now I believe we are on the cusp of an even more promising period of industrydevelopment, a period where the lessons we learned during the creative revolution aboutcraft and storytelling with emotion and humor will combine with the tools and data broughtto us by the digital disruption. For want of a better label I'm calling this new period "TheUltimate Revelation." (To me it sounds kind of prophetic, even biblical.)

And what will be revealed in the ultimate revelation? Among other things it will becomequite clear that there is a profound divide between creating a buzz and creating a brand.There's an important difference between a oneoff stunt and an enduring brand story.There's a difference between an algorithm and an insight into human nature and betweenmere contact and true connection. Finally, there's a wide gulf between big data and a bigidea.

There will be other truths revealed in the years ahead. More than ever, brands will needauthentic and compelling stories that are told consistently across all points of engagement.We'll learn again as we learned with the advertorials of an earlier time that nativeadvertising compromises the integrity of both brands and media. It will also be revealed that

ExplainProgrammatic Videoto Your Grandma

The Rise and Falland Rise of Hasbro'sTV Strategy

Six Tips on Talkingto the PostGeneration

HelloWorld CEO onMobile's Role inLoyalty Programs

A People's History ofTransformersCartoons

Infographic: a Lookat Kids' MediaConsumption

Reebok Is QuietlyEmerging as aChallenger Brand toContend With

2.3k

1.7k

1.6k

50

1

Email

Print

28

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 5/15

Latest NewsVing Rhames Is ADT's First Spokesman in NewCampaign From Doner

How Lego Designed Its Own Oscar and Stole theShow

Here's How Google Instantly Built RealTime Ads toPromote OscarWinning Movies

SaltNPepa Finds a Whole New Generation of Fans

Reebok Is Quietly Emerging as a Challenger Brandto Contend With

Can Cadillac Move Back Into the Luxury Lane?

How an Ordinary Coat Lining Became Fashion’sMost Stylish Scarf

This Week's MustHaves: EmojiInspired Footwearand CyberthiefBlocking Jeans

Popular NowCannes Lions Says to Bring Your Worst Employeesto the Festival Instead of Firing Them

What Is Branding? This ThoughtProvoking VideoTells You in Just 2 Minutes

Honda Teaches You to Speed Read in Three AdsThat Go Faster and Faster

Is This the Cutest Interactive Website Ever, or theCreepiest?

So, How Did Brands Do With Their Oscar Tweets onSunday?

This Agency's Weekly 'Clean the Fridge' Emails Area Thing of Beauty

How Lego Designed Its Own Oscar and Stole theShow

Infographic: a Look at Kids' Media Consumption

media strategy and creative strategy need to come back together, and words like "digital"and "traditional" will lose their meaning. They will blend into one word called "advertising,"the art of connecting brands with people.

I could be wrong about all this, of course. To borrow a line from Oscar Wilde, "I am notyoung enough to know everything."

Keith Reinhard (@kreatividad) is the chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide.

Get the Advertising & Branding newsletter:

Your email address Sign up

Can Cadillac MoveBack Into the LuxuryLane?

How an OrdinaryCoat Lining BecameFashion's MostStylish Scarf

Adweek Blog Network

Advertisement

ALSO FROM ADWEEK

Is This the CutestInteractive Website Ever,or the Creepiest?

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 6/15

Comments

Topics: Bill Bernbach, Creative Revolution, Ddb, Keith Reinhard, The Voice, Creative, Agency

Subscribe to Adweek today. Now on the iPad!

About the Author

28 Comments Adweek Login

Sort by Best Share⤤

Join the discussion…

• Reply •

Tony D'Andrea • 8 days agoNope. Next stage will be of "Intimate Conversations", where cyberdigital technologiesenable totally individualized experiences (at the intimacy of one's "phygital" spaces), to beadequately actualized by radically new creative interactions...

7

• Reply •

Robert Doran • 7 days ago> Tony D'Andrea

Tony you are clearly a visionary in the responding group. It has always beenimportant to tell authentic and compelling stories. Enabling "Intimate Conversations"is the next frontier on the journey–it is evolutionary and not about redefiningadvertising. Although I am not sure the term "phygital" will catch on. But I get it. Themarriage of data and creative–instead of a battle between–will carry us to the day ofreal onetoone digital or "phygital" relationships. I hope the term catches on and youget the credit.

3

Recommend

Share ›

Share ›

AdweekYou like this.

You and 352,915 others like Adweek.

Facebook social plugin

Like

Follow @Adweek 365K followers

Keith Reinhard is the chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide.

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 7/15

• Reply •

Tony D'Andrea • 7 days ago> Robert Doran

Thanks Robert.

• Reply •

MC • 5 days ago> Tony D'Andrea

Totally agree with Tony. I call the concept "Conversational Design" and we're nowable to see how it works with NLP (natural language processing like Siri, Cortana,Google Now) and cognitive computing (IBM Watson). I go into some detail in thisarticle: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse...

1

• Reply •

comradity • 7 days ago

see more

"More than ever, brands will need authentic and compelling stories"

The Creative Revolution coincided with a time when brands had an authentic andcompelling story to tell.

Then there wasn't anymore.

And advertising creativity was reduced to come up with words like "unsurpassed" todescribe a parity product that sounds better than commodity.

The unintended consequence is that advertising's reputation has returned to the snake oilsalesman days.

Case Studies from the Creative Revolution period often reduced the real story of thecreative process to a logical, rational one because that's what academia, professionalassociations, and the trade press would buy.

The unintended consequence is that many think that creativity comes from data.

What we need is a "do over"

3

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 8/15

• Reply •

MC • 5 days ago> comradity

Part of the Creative Revolution and the concept of story telling was the media asmessage which made it just one story in a short video narrative. The concept of asingle minded proposition was great for mass reach messaging but this notionneeds to be discarded in favor of "intimate conversations" that @Tony hascommented about above.

These days of big data, behavioral targeting, content context, and predictivemodeling, the advertising industry needs to learn how to engage with multiplebenefits appropriate to profile, time, place, and context. Then again, maybecompanies will just start asking consumers what they want. #VRM

1

comradity • 5 days ago> MC

Larry, I think the technology you reference is very exciting especially in thecontext of #VRM more specifically, when consumers choose tocommunicate with things and/or the business they already own or dobusiness with. But even then, I don't think anyone wants an intimateconversation.

During the purchase decision process, advertising is still an appropriate formof communication from a business to an unknown prospect.

What has changed is the possible interactivity.

Ever hear the one about the sales guy who told his boss "I only made 25calls today. I would have made more but the 25th person asked me what Iwas selling."

Advertising designed for this scenario changes from being closed ended toopen ended. And the creator of that ad has to be open to having no controlover where that conversation goes. That is something that makes traditionaladvertising creators/producers very uncomfortable. It also makes databasepeople uncomfortable, they want to control what information is collected atthat point.

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 9/15

• Reply •

that point.

So that's where the opportunity for exploration between creativity and datais. And it is not what either side thinks it should be right now.

2

• Reply •

philrubin • 7 days agoAs someone old enough to know who Keith Reinhard is, and the legacy of DDB in buildingsome of the most well defined brands, I love his perspective. As someone involved inconnecting brands to customers through loyalty marketing, which we call relevant dialogue,he's spot on. It's not just about connecting consumers to products and services, as that'sall too often done with promotion (aka discounting). An enduring brand and a loyal customermeans that there's full value exchange. And that starts with a brand.

3

• Reply •

Andrew Samuel • 8 days agoOur Mike Krafczyk was asked the same question last year, nice to see his thoughtsvalidated here.http://www.stbernadine.com/the...

3

• Reply •

Richard Meyer • 8 days agoWhat a bunch of crap! No wonder the ad industry is hurting. What in the hell makes youthink consumers want to be connected to brands? Today it's about understanding youraudience and knowing that because someone is a customer does not mean they have timeto "connect" with you. Brands would be better to think like consumers and less like allknowing and feeling and to ensure that their brand touch points don't disappoint where itcounts.

5

Hencer612 • 8 days ago> Richard Meyer

"What a bunch of crap! No wonder the ad industry is hurting. What in the hell makesyou think consumers want to be connected to brands?"

Umm...data and history?

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 10/15

• Reply •

Umm...data and history? 20

• Reply •

GBlivins • 7 days ago> Richard Meyer

Richard Meyer one of the all time legends in the ad business. Known for suchgreat campaigns as....

2

• Reply •

Richard Meyer • 7 days ago> GBlivins

Cialis, Sony, Canon

• Reply •

Richard Meyer • 7 days ago> Richard Meyer

You are truly one of the reasons why so many brands are firingagencies

• Reply •

Padraig Ó Raghaill • 6 days ago> Richard Meyer

Well because people do make connections with brands, want to make connectionsand we have the same attention span just spread thinner. It has always been aboutunderstanding your audience, in fact not much has really changed. The biggestchange is the M&A sector it is the internal working of business, and the shifting ofcommercial focus.

• Reply •

thegreatonymariani • 6 days ago> Padraig Ó Raghaill

Can you repeat that in English?

Skooch • 7 days agoAll this evolution in technology, data, fragmentation of the advertising profession etc...hastaken away from what marketings ultimate goal really is communicating with an audienceto SELL a product. We need to all work together (agencies) to fulfil a clients goal...ultimatelythat SALES of their product or service all the clicks, reach, engagement mean nothing

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 11/15

• Reply •

that SALES of their product or service all the clicks, reach, engagement mean nothingunless product is sold at the end of the day.

2

• Reply •

cigar44 • 8 days agoAnticipated response from today's Millenial and Gen x ad execs "Dude who's KeithReinhard."

2

• Reply •

Lance • 3 days agoIs it just me, or does "The Ultimate Revelation" sounds like something that you can orderfries with? I am all in on the notion... just not the name. I truly believe that we are at a placewhere we can truly personalize creative and messaging to consumers in a blending of artand science. Some of it could very well be "Intimate Conversations" but I think its just aslikely that we can have more artful representations of mass messaging as well. Why are wecopy testing things the way we always have. Especially with digital tools and data which aninform media messaging and strategies in new ways. It's time to think of our businessholistically and to strike the word "digital" from advertising

• Reply •

Karthik M • 5 days agoA nice read. Made some excellent points. This article reminded me of these two Twitterfeeds: @leeclowsbeard and @wildegoozchase.

• Reply •

Andy Randazzo • 7 days agoI often see smaller brands and clients (I should also say with smaller budgets) usetechnology as a replacement for ad agencies. But these smaller brands will run into thesame problems as someone who has never used a saw before who says "Sure I can builda house, they sell the wood and nails at Home Depot."

Liana Kutos • 7 days agoI believe that we do not necessarily need to redefine advertising just because of all thechanges in technology. I also believe that advertising is not about connecting brands with

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 12/15

• Reply •

changes in technology. I also believe that advertising is not about connecting brands withpeople anymore. Now its about companies getting to know their consumers and figuring outwhat the consumers want and do not want, within the brand. Consumers now in days havemore say about particular brands and companies than the brand themselves. I will agreewith the article that because of all the change in technology and how social media isessentially part of everyday life, that word of web is the best way to go. Especially withinstagram because you can take that one post and share it on twitter, facebook, tumblr,flickr and foursquare all at once. I have noticed a lot more brands are using snapchat andinstagram to promote themselves and get the consumers more involved. I think it is a verycreative way to make consumers feel like they are a part of that brand.

• Reply •

Ashley Gonzalez • 7 days agoIn Keith Reinhard’s article about the future of advertising,he states what he thinks about how much advertising has changed in today’ssociety. While advertising’s general goal of connecting brands with people hasnot changed, the type of methods from all the way from the 1950’s to thepresent has surely changed. Reinhard believes that these changes are actuallyfor the better, with more prominent uses of elements such as storytelling andcreativity to help make these brands stick out more for consumers. I totally agreewith his claim and think that the time that we live in today is a great timefor advertising where entertainment and humor is a primary focus for consumersto enjoy. But there also has to be a balance between being engaging andcreative with consistency for a brand to be successful in today’s world,because if that isn’t focused on, an attempt to be entertaining will just bewritten off as a stunt and not an intriguing story for new or loyal consumersto buy. I too am curious to see what type of direction the future holds foradvertising, but I definitely cannot even imagine what that might be like.

Ken Roberts • 7 days ago"Compelling stories that are told consistently across all points of engagement." Hmmm.

Brands should start defining themselves through compelling customer experiences

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 13/15

• Reply •

customers actually doing something, not just watching it. If you are going to tell stories,please provide compelling experiences as well, across touch points, that live up to thestories!

• Reply •

AlDoyle • 7 days agoit's never changed. Never will. All the digital buzz is just about a new delivery method(medium). The Bernbach era nailed it with disruptive authenticity. We need to continue thesame, whether making the "pitch" on the side of an 1880s barn, in a personal handshake orour latest tweet. Basically the medium will alway be the medium no matter how many booksMcLuan sold. (Now I'll spend the next hour reducing this to 140 characters.) Thanks, KeithR.

Michael Chaides • 7 days agoMichael Chaides1206803503

MKT365 THUR 4:30

I agree with Reinhard’s argument that modern marketing doesnot require redefining. He illustratesthe difference between traditional marketing, starting in the 1950’s, versusthe now digital era. But really, whathas changed? Definitely the platforms we use to reach potential prospects(Internet, mobile media, and social networks). However, as illustrated in the article, isn’t the goal still to informcustomers about a product in the best possible way? I don’t like to think ofany business process ‘in the now’, I think it’s more productive in terms ofwhere do we want to be five years from now and what are we doing today to getthere. To say that the concept of marketingneeds redefining alludes to the idea that this is the underlying process neededto be discovered in order to run a successful marketing campaign. But the idea is still thesame isn’t it,

Share ›

Share ›

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 14/15

• Reply •

reaching customers? In conclusion, I don’tthink it’s fair to say marketing has changed, but expanded into a complexnetwork where only clearly defined, creative messages can shine through I.e.more barriers to entry.

• Reply •

Steve white • 7 days agoStraight and clear and right.

• Reply •

AJA Design • 8 days agoNot sure I agree with you, Richard. Certainly, for every new client we start withunderstanding their story. My experience of selling because, you're right there, it boilsdown to ROI, not "connection" is that the more I empathised, the more I sold. As a bigbrand, we can't empathise with each individual on a onetoone scale; instead, we mustencourage them to empathise with us. For that, we tell our client's story.Many of the industryleading "thinkers" are being recognised for their agency's ability tocompel audiences and consumers with these tales. Yes, a lot of them are excruciatinglypatronising; that's more the mark of a struggling concept by the agency.At the end of it, and this is a personal opinion, we're all connected by a story. It's notparticularly "nice" to use this human element to sell more products or services, but if Iworried about that I wouldn't be in this industry.Ben

Subscribe Add Disqus to your sited Privacy

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

Advertisement

2/24/2015 The Future of Advertising Rests on Connecting Brands and Consumers | Adweek

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/futureadvertisingstillrestsartconnectingbrandsandconsumers162937 15/15

Terms of use | Privacy Policy

©2015 Adweek All Rights Reserved

About

About / Contact UsAdvertisingEventsEditorial CalendarBrandShareSpecial Advertising SectionRSS

Subscribe to Adweek

Subscription OptionsiPad appsNewslettersReprintsBack IssuesCustomer Service

TVNewserTVSpyLostRemoteAgencySpyPRNewser

SocialTimesFishbowlNYFishbowlDCGalleyCat

Adweek Blog Network Our Partners

MediaBistroBillboardBack StageThe Hollywood ReporterFilm Expo GroupClio Awards