The Future of Advertising

Much has been said about the future of advertising. I've had the opportunity to work at a variety of agencies from digital shops to ones with a long history of creating global brands. It's definitely an exciting time if you consider yourself innovative and comfortable with change but for those waiting for advertising's glory days to come back, the over the top, expensive meals and dedicated assistants for management will become a thing of the past. I'm not going to say "the future is mobile" or the future is in social media, etc. At this point, brands should consider whether or not social or mobile is appropriate for their target although I can't imagine a target who doesn't use one or the other. I feel like anything I say will be douchy because who am I to say what the future will be. But...The future of advertising is in big ideas that are completely media and device-agnostic. For agencies to succeed in 2013, successful agencies will be able to tell their clients that they can get the right partners together to implement the idea whether that's hiring a digital production company, mobile app developer or partnering with a PR firm. It might mean acting as the middle man between a startup and a client or organizing a global event through an events production company. The future of advertising may be telling your client to listen to their consumers to make a better product. The future of advertising may be telling your client that they need to make their business more sustainable because it's good for consumers, good for the earth and good for the bottom line. As advertisers, we have something that client's don't. We live in cities that are the hotbeds of culture, not in the suburbs. We are creative and used to collaborating with people of all different backgrounds. We didn't take the traditional path of getting a business degree, MBA, etc. We've taken financial risks, working as artists, writers, academics and we've learned how to be innovative. We are connected to new cultural trends and design and thirsty to see what's next. So for heaven's sake, let's remember that clients hire us for a reason and guide them in the right direction instead of doing their bidding. Work it.